By Terence Dooley
Gennady Golovkin’s dominant eleventh-round TKO win over Martin Murray on Saturday night lifted him to 32-0 (29), but it has made him an even more fearful proposition for the other 160lb title-holders and contenders. Miguel Cotto (WBC) and Andy Lee (WBO) would offer him unification options—Jermain Taylor’s former IBF title is up in the air due to his recent personal woes—and Lee has already popped his head over the parapet by stating his intention to meet the Kazakhstan-based boxer.
Lee, 34-2 (24), defends his title against Peter Quillin, 32-0 (29) in New York on April 11. The 30-year-old won the title by stopping Matt Korobov in the sixth-round in December; he has told the Irish version of the Daily Mirror that he will step up against “GGG” should he beat “Kid Chocolate”.
Lee said: “It's inevitable that we fight, as long as I hold onto my belt. I don't see anyone taking his belt. You've got to match him with punches. You've got to fight him and take him out.”
That’s easier said than done, as Murray found out, but Lee is in form and riding the crest of a wave—although he has a very tough test against the undefeated Quillin first. Max Herman, Golovkin’s manager, admitted that, should Lee win, Golovkin would be prepared to meet the Irishman.
“He would love to fight the Lee-Quillin winner because he wants to unify the world titles,” stated Herman. “He's mandatory challenger for Miguel Cotto but I don't think that fight will happen soon.”
Meanwhile, Adam Booth, Lee’s trainer, believes his man is in the form of his life, citing the win over Korobov as the crowning achievement of his coaching career. “I’ve thought about it and my success has a coach has been with David [Haye], George [Groves], with Curtis [Woodhouse] in one fight and Andy,” said when speaking to BoxingScene about Lee’s recent development.
"Everyone expected David to be successful, so if he wasn’t it would have been seen as my fault. If he was successful then it was because he’s David Haye—I couldn’t win. The situation with Andy was that he’d had 35 fights, lost two, lost a world title fight two years before and hadn’t really impressed or had a significant win other than coming back to beat Brian Vera—he’d been written off in every sense.”
Should Lee beat both Quillin and Golovkin, a huge ask, Booth will be able to reflect on a job well done, but there’s the small matter of that away day against Quillin to think about before any talk of Golovkin.
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