Golovkin: I'm Not Small Like Canelo's Opponents, I Want KO Win!
by Miguel Rivera
WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) is looking to really put on an impressive performance when he faces Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs).
After years of hype, the two boxers will finally meet in the ring on September 16th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. HBO Pay-Per-View will carry the fight.
Golovkin is returning from the first twelve round decision of his career, which he secured in a tough outing against Daniel Jacobs back in March at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Prior to the bout, Golovkin had stopped 23 opponents in a row.
Canelo, although a former WBC middleweight champion, had never actually fought at the division limit of 160-pounds. All of his middleweight fights took place at a catch-weight of 155-pounds.
In his last fought, in May, Canelo jumped way up to a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who was coming down from super middleweight. Chavez Jr. appeared to have depleted his entire body to make that weight and was easily dominated over twelve rounds.
Golovkin was not impressed by Canelo's last victory and wants to knock him off in a highly entertaining fight.
"I have good experience in the middleweight division. Canelo right now is coming to the middleweight division. Last couple of fights he looks good, but right now is a different story, a new story. I'm a true champion at the middleweight division. I'm not small like Canelo's opponents. In the last fight with [Chavez] Jr. - Canelo looked good because Jr. lost so many fights. I'm still very active. This a true champion's fight," Golovkin told ESPN Deportes.
"I wanna show a big drama show. I want a knockout. I want a true fight. I want to beat him because [he] and Golden Boy talked too much. He didn't want to fight - the last two, three years. This was very bad for sport, very bad for boxing. I want to beat him. This is a very big fight. If I win, I'll be very happy because I think I will bring respect back to boxing."