Dan Rafael: Gennady Golovkin
Middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin wants the major fight that he deserves and that he is mandatory for against Germany's Felix Sturm.
But I don't think Sturm, the WBA's so-called "super champion" to Golovkin's "regular champion" designation, wants any part of Golovkin, a wrecking machine from Kazakhstan who would be a dangerous opponent for any 160-pounder on the planet.
Golovkin, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, knows Sturm from their days together when both were promoted by Germany's Universum. He has a theory on why Sturm hasn't shown any interest in facing him and has tried to avoid the mandatory for as long as possible.
"Sturm and I were both with Universum Box-Promotion. We knew each other pretty well," Golovkin said. "We used to see each other in the gym all the time. We trained together, but we never sparred together. I believe that the reason why Sturm does not want to fight me is because he knows me well and knows that he can't beat me. He knows me and I know him, and I want the fight."
On Saturday in Ukraine, Golovkin (23-0, 20 KOs) retained his belt with a violent third-round destruction of Japan's overmatched Makoto Fuchigami (19-7, 10 KOs). With Fuchigami dismissed in bloody fashion, Golovkin now wants the fight with Sturm (37-2-2, 16 KOs), which is due by Sept. 30.
It remains to be seen whether Sturm will fight him, but Golovkin's camp plans to press for the bout as hard as it can.
"The deal we made with the WBA is that Sturm was allowed a voluntary defense, and if he wins, his next fight will be a mandatory defense," said K2 promoter Tom Loeffler, who promotes Golovkin as part of the Klitschko brothers' stable of fighters. "They have been ordered to make that fight by Sept. 30. At this point, Sturm is running out of options. Sturm, at this time, holds the record for being a champion the longest without having a mandatory defense. Two years ago, Gennady was the interim champion and Sturm was the WBA champion. Sturm then got elevated to super champion. For the last two years, Gennady has been trying to fight him."
Golovkin, who has traveled to New York to meet with American television network executives, hopes to fight in the United States -- but only after the fight with Sturm, if it happens.
"I want the fight with Felix Sturm," Golovkin said. "That is the only fight I really want at this time. I do think he will get in the ring with me by Sept. 30. If that doesn't work out, I can move to either 154 or 168 if I need to find another opponent. Whatever it is, I want the best fights against the best opponents. I will fight [Dmitry] Pirog or any of the other [middleweight] champions. Right now, it doesn't matter who my opponent is or what weight I fight at."
But I don't think Sturm, the WBA's so-called "super champion" to Golovkin's "regular champion" designation, wants any part of Golovkin, a wrecking machine from Kazakhstan who would be a dangerous opponent for any 160-pounder on the planet.
Golovkin, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, knows Sturm from their days together when both were promoted by Germany's Universum. He has a theory on why Sturm hasn't shown any interest in facing him and has tried to avoid the mandatory for as long as possible.
"Sturm and I were both with Universum Box-Promotion. We knew each other pretty well," Golovkin said. "We used to see each other in the gym all the time. We trained together, but we never sparred together. I believe that the reason why Sturm does not want to fight me is because he knows me well and knows that he can't beat me. He knows me and I know him, and I want the fight."
On Saturday in Ukraine, Golovkin (23-0, 20 KOs) retained his belt with a violent third-round destruction of Japan's overmatched Makoto Fuchigami (19-7, 10 KOs). With Fuchigami dismissed in bloody fashion, Golovkin now wants the fight with Sturm (37-2-2, 16 KOs), which is due by Sept. 30.
It remains to be seen whether Sturm will fight him, but Golovkin's camp plans to press for the bout as hard as it can.
"The deal we made with the WBA is that Sturm was allowed a voluntary defense, and if he wins, his next fight will be a mandatory defense," said K2 promoter Tom Loeffler, who promotes Golovkin as part of the Klitschko brothers' stable of fighters. "They have been ordered to make that fight by Sept. 30. At this point, Sturm is running out of options. Sturm, at this time, holds the record for being a champion the longest without having a mandatory defense. Two years ago, Gennady was the interim champion and Sturm was the WBA champion. Sturm then got elevated to super champion. For the last two years, Gennady has been trying to fight him."
Golovkin, who has traveled to New York to meet with American television network executives, hopes to fight in the United States -- but only after the fight with Sturm, if it happens.
"I want the fight with Felix Sturm," Golovkin said. "That is the only fight I really want at this time. I do think he will get in the ring with me by Sept. 30. If that doesn't work out, I can move to either 154 or 168 if I need to find another opponent. Whatever it is, I want the best fights against the best opponents. I will fight [Dmitry] Pirog or any of the other [middleweight] champions. Right now, it doesn't matter who my opponent is or what weight I fight at."
Gennady Golovkin aims for U.S. invasion
February, 9, 2012
Feb 9
11:47
AM ET
By
Dan Rafael | ESPN.com
Middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin isn't known in the United States by anyone other than the most freakish of Fight Freaks. But make no mistake, he's good. And if he has his way, he won't be unknown for long.
Golovkin was a decorated amateur. He claimed a silver medal for Kazakhstan in the 2004 Olympics, beating Andre Dirrell on his way to the hardware. Other fighters you may have heard of whom he beat in the unpaid ranks: Lucian Bute (by stoppage), Andy Lee, Yordanis Despaigne and Matvey Korobov. Not a bad group is it?
As a professional, Golovkin had been based in Germany while fighting for promoter Universum, which is nearly out of business now. He has left the company and signed with K2 Promotions -- the company owned by heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko. If Golovkin and K2 execute their plan, he will soon be fighting important fights on these shores.
Golovkin is already training in Big Bear, Calif., with trainer Abel Sanchez and hopes to make a splash in the U.S. this year.
In an effort to raise his profile in America, the 29-year-old Golovkin (22-0, 19 KOs) hit New York this week -- along with K2's Tom Loeffler and manager Max Hermann -- to try to drum up interest. He attended a New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden, where he dreams of fighting one day. He also met with the ambassador from Kazakhstan. But the more important meetings were business-related. Loeffler said Golovkin's group met with MSG executives, who are interested in having Golovkin fight at the Garden. Then were the meetings with the television networks. The fighter's group met with Epix on Wednesday and is slated to meet with HBO and Showtime on Thursday, Loeffler said.
"When he was with Universum, there was not much publicity for him, but he is really committed to fighting here, especially in New York -- and that's what we want to make clear to everyone, especially the television networks," Loeffler said of Golovkin on Wednesday. "He speaks Russian, German and his English is getting better. Now that he is signed with K2, part of our commitment to him was to bring him to the United States. Universum was keeping him in Europe.
"But we really believe in Gennady. He will fight anyone. We will make that clear to the networks, that he won't pick and choose his opponents. They'll have a fighter who will fight who they want him to fight. If that means Andy Lee or Daniel Geale or Dmitry Pirog or Peter Quillin or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or Sergio Martinez, fine. They can pick. We just want the opportunity."
Golovkin hopes to fight in April. It could take place in Europe or possibly in the United States "if we can get backing from a U.S. TV network," Loeffler said.
Golovkin would like to fight titleholder Felix Sturm of Germany to clear up the issue of both of them holding versions of the WBA title. That's a fight that would make the most sense in Germany, but for anything else, Golovkin welcomes the chance to fight in America.
"I have this dream," said Golovkin, whose visit to New York this week is his first. "It is to fight in America, especially at Madison Square Garden, which has such a big history of boxing. My dream has always been to fight in the U.S. and Madison Square Garden because there is a lot of big boxing history."
Fight fans probably will take to Golovkin if they get a chance to watch him. He's a crowd-pleaser. In Germany in December, Golovkin made his third title defense, scoring a spectacular first-round knockout of Philadelphia's Lajuan Simon. In his previous defense last June, Golovkin had a terrific fight with former junior middleweight titleholder Kassim Ouma before stopping him in the 10th round.
"My style is that I'm aggressive, always going forward and putting big pressure on my opponents," Golovkin said. "What I'm doing now in Big Bear is trying to combine all the different styles -- the old Soviet style, the American style and the Mexican style."
Golovkin mentioned two famous fighters whose styles he most likes and tries to emulate: Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Robinson.
"I like Tyson's style, with the power, and I've see a lot of Robinson tapes and I like him," he said. "Tyson's style is what I look up to. My trainer and me go over old tapes. I also watch Terry Norris tapes, too."
If Golovkin can get the kind of fights he wants against the best-known middleweights and keeps adding to his undefeated record in the kind of exciting fights fans want to see, who knows? Maybe someday a young boxer in the future will talk to a writer about how he likes to watch Gennady Golovkin videos.
Golovkin was a decorated amateur. He claimed a silver medal for Kazakhstan in the 2004 Olympics, beating Andre Dirrell on his way to the hardware. Other fighters you may have heard of whom he beat in the unpaid ranks: Lucian Bute (by stoppage), Andy Lee, Yordanis Despaigne and Matvey Korobov. Not a bad group is it?
As a professional, Golovkin had been based in Germany while fighting for promoter Universum, which is nearly out of business now. He has left the company and signed with K2 Promotions -- the company owned by heavyweight champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko. If Golovkin and K2 execute their plan, he will soon be fighting important fights on these shores.
Golovkin is already training in Big Bear, Calif., with trainer Abel Sanchez and hopes to make a splash in the U.S. this year.
In an effort to raise his profile in America, the 29-year-old Golovkin (22-0, 19 KOs) hit New York this week -- along with K2's Tom Loeffler and manager Max Hermann -- to try to drum up interest. He attended a New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden, where he dreams of fighting one day. He also met with the ambassador from Kazakhstan. But the more important meetings were business-related. Loeffler said Golovkin's group met with MSG executives, who are interested in having Golovkin fight at the Garden. Then were the meetings with the television networks. The fighter's group met with Epix on Wednesday and is slated to meet with HBO and Showtime on Thursday, Loeffler said.
"When he was with Universum, there was not much publicity for him, but he is really committed to fighting here, especially in New York -- and that's what we want to make clear to everyone, especially the television networks," Loeffler said of Golovkin on Wednesday. "He speaks Russian, German and his English is getting better. Now that he is signed with K2, part of our commitment to him was to bring him to the United States. Universum was keeping him in Europe.
"But we really believe in Gennady. He will fight anyone. We will make that clear to the networks, that he won't pick and choose his opponents. They'll have a fighter who will fight who they want him to fight. If that means Andy Lee or Daniel Geale or Dmitry Pirog or Peter Quillin or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or Sergio Martinez, fine. They can pick. We just want the opportunity."
Golovkin hopes to fight in April. It could take place in Europe or possibly in the United States "if we can get backing from a U.S. TV network," Loeffler said.
Golovkin would like to fight titleholder Felix Sturm of Germany to clear up the issue of both of them holding versions of the WBA title. That's a fight that would make the most sense in Germany, but for anything else, Golovkin welcomes the chance to fight in America.
"I have this dream," said Golovkin, whose visit to New York this week is his first. "It is to fight in America, especially at Madison Square Garden, which has such a big history of boxing. My dream has always been to fight in the U.S. and Madison Square Garden because there is a lot of big boxing history."
Fight fans probably will take to Golovkin if they get a chance to watch him. He's a crowd-pleaser. In Germany in December, Golovkin made his third title defense, scoring a spectacular first-round knockout of Philadelphia's Lajuan Simon. In his previous defense last June, Golovkin had a terrific fight with former junior middleweight titleholder Kassim Ouma before stopping him in the 10th round.
"My style is that I'm aggressive, always going forward and putting big pressure on my opponents," Golovkin said. "What I'm doing now in Big Bear is trying to combine all the different styles -- the old Soviet style, the American style and the Mexican style."
Golovkin mentioned two famous fighters whose styles he most likes and tries to emulate: Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Robinson.
"I like Tyson's style, with the power, and I've see a lot of Robinson tapes and I like him," he said. "Tyson's style is what I look up to. My trainer and me go over old tapes. I also watch Terry Norris tapes, too."
If Golovkin can get the kind of fights he wants against the best-known middleweights and keeps adding to his undefeated record in the kind of exciting fights fans want to see, who knows? Maybe someday a young boxer in the future will talk to a writer about how he likes to watch Gennady Golovkin videos.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Dan Rafael
Dan Rafael is ESPN.com's boxing writer. Rafael began writing for ESPN.com in March 2005 after working for five years as the boxing writer for USA Today. He can be reached on Twitter at danrafaelespn.