By Victor Salazar
New York- On pace for a second sell out of New York’s Madison Square Garden, WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KO’s) has become a draw in various cities throughout the country but mainly in New York. He calls the famed arena his second home.
“I’m very excited coming here,” Golovkin told BoxingScene.com. “It's my second home, the mecca of boxing in New York, Madison Square Garden.”
The Kazakh who now resides on California will be facing native New Yorker and Brooklyn’s own Danny Jacobs (32-1, 29 KO’s).
While Jacobs has fought many of his fights in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Golovkin still expects Jacobs to bring many fans when the two fight this Saturday night on HBO Pay-Per-View.
“I think of course Daniel has his fans and friends,” stated Golovkin. “I have my fans. I think it's very good for boxing and good for the sport. I don’t think it will be more one way or another, right now the fans will probably be 50/50.”
Golovkin has been an advocate for VADA's random drug testing protocol for all of his fights and feels all fighters should sign up for the program. He wants to prove that his feared punching power is legit and not due to any illegal performance enhancers.
“Of course I want to show everyone I'm a clean fighter and boxing should be a clean sport,” explained the WBC, WBA, IBF, and IBO champion. “They tested me about 5 times. I think everyone should be tested - let’s do it”
As for what he expects Jacobs to bring Saturday night, the unbeaten boxer expects the whole package
“Daniel is a great fighter. He has timing, speed, great power. He has everything. I think we’ll have an amazing show, especially the whole card not only my fight but the whole card,” Golovkin said.