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The dreaded “R” word never crosses Gennadiy Golovkin’s mind, although he acknowledges that—at age 37—there are only so many years left in his career.
Still, there remains plenty of fight in the former middleweight titlist, who hopes to change that status to “two-time middleweight titlist” this weekend. He will have to get past Ukraine’s Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10KOs) in order to accomplish that feat, as the two collide for two vacant middleweight straps Saturday evening live on sports streaming service DAZN from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Whomever stands across the ring seems of less concern to the 2004 Olympic Silver medalist from Kazakhstan than the fact that he is likely approaching the twilight of his memorable career.
“Life is unpredictable,” Golovkin (39-1-1, 35KOs) noted during a recent media conference call in discussing the bout and his future in the sport. “My biggest opponent is my age and my determination to keep boxing.
“All of these other names are not a factor in why I continue to box.”
It was hoped by Golovkin, his team and the DAZN brass that one such name that would cross his path this year was a blast from the past. His record-tying middleweight run of 20 successful defenses came to a close following a majority decision defeat to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in their rematch last September.
Both currently fight under the DAZN banner, Golovkin joining the streaming platform earlier this year and making his debut with a 4th round stoppage of Canada’s Steve Rolls this past June. The win came one month after Alvarez turned away the challenge of Daniel Jacobs in their three-belt unification bout (Alvarez is also the World [lineal] middleweight champion dating back to his Nov. 2015 win over Miguel Cotto).
Efforts to secure a lucrative third fight for this past September proved unsuccessful.
Instead, Golovkin will fight to reclaim one of his old titles versus Derevyanchenko, a 2008 Olympian for Ukraine who now lives and trains in Brooklyn, New York. A win on Saturday will place him in notable company of aged veterans who captured major titles.
Bernard Hopkins–whose mark of 20 defenses Golovkin tied last May with a knockout win over Vanes Martirosyan—was four months shy of his 40th birthday when he knocked out Oscar de la Hoya in the 9th round to win his fourth and final title (WBO) at the weight after having already collected the other three major belts. His reign would end 10 months later, but the future Hall of Famer would go on to claim the light heavyweight crown and fight at the championship level well into his late 40s.
Hall of Fame former four-division champion Roberto Duran was four months shy of his 38th birthday—two months older than Golovkin is today—when he scored an upset decision win over Iran Barkley to claim a piece of the middleweight crown in 1989. It would mark his final title win, dropping a 12-round decision to Sugar Ray Leonard for the super middleweight title in their rubber match later that year—nearly a decade after their first two fights. He would also suffer a 3rd round knockout at the hands of William Joppy at age 47 in an Aug. 1998 title bid that should have never been permitted.
As noble as are the stories of those who’ve defied Father Time, Golovkin simply possesses admiration but doesn’t necessarily draw inspiration from said tales.
“I don’t really take my cue from what anyone else has done,” insists Golovkin, who to this day is still regarded as—at worst—the second best middleweight in the world and among the Top 10 pound for pound entrants today. “I train hard and push my body to the limit.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox