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Why Many Mexican Fans Will Be Rooting for Golovkin in His Rematch with Canelo
Why Many Mexican Fans Will Be Rooting for Golovkin in His Rematch with Canelo
ROBERTO ANDRADE
SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
It happened, this odd connection between Kazakhstan's Gennady Golovkin and Mexico, almost as if by accident.
After crushing yet another opponent—in his fifth bout in the United States after fighting in obscurity throughout Germany—Golovkin was asked by HBO's Max Kellerman to describe the right hand that felled his opponent and how he, despite also getting hit, stayed up while his opponent crumbled. "Max," he answered, a sinister smirk on his face, "this is my style, like Mexican style. This is fight. This is not game."
That was late July 2014 in Madison Square Garden. Less than three months later, Golovkin fought for the first time in Southern California in front of a largely Mexican crowd. "It was one of those moments that creates goosebumps," recalls Tom Loeffler, Golovkin's promoter.
"You know, everybody that's been around Canelo, it's a certain arrogance that he brings," says Carrillo, who is a fan of both boxers. "I don't think he means it…he's very careful with what he does. He's not that charming guy that Chavez was ... It almost feels like he doesn't show us his emotion. He's very dry. Your average Mexican doesn't necessarily embrace that; you want to see the fighter, you want to hear the fighter. You don't want to hear the PR response."
Like his style of fighting, Canelo is intelligent and calculating. But there's also a perception that he represents the establishment that most of us, Mexicans and Mexican Americans especially, can never even dream of being a part of. Unlike Golovkin, Canelo—and this is not to say he hasn't worked hard—has seemingly enjoyed every benefit of the doubt.
Canelo is an undeniable star. In his high-end designer clothes and equally expensive colognes, he's kept company with the likes of Carlos Slim, Bill Clinton and a handful of Mexico's greatest pop stars. Such a man's face could never be placed on a figure like Chalino. It wouldn't work.
It would be even more unbelievable than a boxer from Kazakhstan claiming to have Mexican blood.
Roberto Jose Andrade Franco is a freelance writer from the El Paso-Juarez borderland. He currently lives in the Dallas area, where he attends SMU and is writing a dissertation on how boxing influences Mexican and Mexican American identity. Follow him on Twitter @R_AndradeFranco.
Why Many Mexican Fans Will Be Rooting for Golovkin in His Rematch with Canelo
ROBERTO ANDRADE
SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
It happened, this odd connection between Kazakhstan's Gennady Golovkin and Mexico, almost as if by accident.
After crushing yet another opponent—in his fifth bout in the United States after fighting in obscurity throughout Germany—Golovkin was asked by HBO's Max Kellerman to describe the right hand that felled his opponent and how he, despite also getting hit, stayed up while his opponent crumbled. "Max," he answered, a sinister smirk on his face, "this is my style, like Mexican style. This is fight. This is not game."
That was late July 2014 in Madison Square Garden. Less than three months later, Golovkin fought for the first time in Southern California in front of a largely Mexican crowd. "It was one of those moments that creates goosebumps," recalls Tom Loeffler, Golovkin's promoter.
"You know, everybody that's been around Canelo, it's a certain arrogance that he brings," says Carrillo, who is a fan of both boxers. "I don't think he means it…he's very careful with what he does. He's not that charming guy that Chavez was ... It almost feels like he doesn't show us his emotion. He's very dry. Your average Mexican doesn't necessarily embrace that; you want to see the fighter, you want to hear the fighter. You don't want to hear the PR response."
Like his style of fighting, Canelo is intelligent and calculating. But there's also a perception that he represents the establishment that most of us, Mexicans and Mexican Americans especially, can never even dream of being a part of. Unlike Golovkin, Canelo—and this is not to say he hasn't worked hard—has seemingly enjoyed every benefit of the doubt.
Canelo is an undeniable star. In his high-end designer clothes and equally expensive colognes, he's kept company with the likes of Carlos Slim, Bill Clinton and a handful of Mexico's greatest pop stars. Such a man's face could never be placed on a figure like Chalino. It wouldn't work.
It would be even more unbelievable than a boxer from Kazakhstan claiming to have Mexican blood.
Roberto Jose Andrade Franco is a freelance writer from the El Paso-Juarez borderland. He currently lives in the Dallas area, where he attends SMU and is writing a dissertation on how boxing influences Mexican and Mexican American identity. Follow him on Twitter @R_AndradeFranco.
