IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) believes there are too many critics who are overlooking his upcoming opponent, Vanes Martirosyan.
Golovkin will face Martirosyan, a late replacement, on Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Vanes stepped in to the contest a few short weeks ago, after Saul "Canelo" Alvarez was forced to withdraw after being suspended for a drug test failure from February.
But Golovkin is becoming very frustrated as reporters are overlooking Vanes and simply asking him questionas about a potential fall rematch with Canelo.
“I am fighting Vanes, and he is a professional and not an easy fight, but all the time, it’s ‘Canelo, Canelo, Oscar, Canelo,’ and nothing else,” Golovkin said to Yahoo Sports.
“This is wrong for this sport what happened. Vanes is a worthy opponent and we should be talking about him, but instead everyone is making excuses for the guy who had the [positive] test.”
Golovkin's trainer, Abel Sanchez, also views the contest as a very dangerous fight - and compared the bout to the biggest upset in boxing history, when Buster Douglas knocked out undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
“There isn’t any pressure on Vanes because nobody expects him to win and when you have a guy with talent who can go in and fight pressure-free, that’s a dangerous guy,” Sanchez said.
“He has the same opportunity that Buster Douglas had when he fought Tyson. Nobody expected him to do anything, but look what he did. But we train our guys to be at their best, regardless of who they’re fighting. G knows Vanes from the 2004 Olympics and he knows he has to be prepared, and I think he is. Vanes is a revitalized guy getting this chance, and Gennady knows what he needs to do to get the job done.”
