Golovkin is Highly Motivated, Regains Interest in Boxing
By Steve Kim
2016 was a frustrating year for Gennady Golovkin, who in addition to not getting the marquee match-up that he yearned for, he also fought just two times that year. Instead of getting the likes of Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (who delayed this match-up by vacating the WBC middleweight belt) or more meaningful middleweight bouts, he was relegated to facing Dominick Wade and Kell Brook.
And with that, motivation was a bit of a factor for Golovkin, who gets his long awaited showdown with Alvarez on September 16th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
"Sometimes yeah,'' he admitted to a group of boxing writers before his open workout on Monday afternoon at LA Live. "You remember the last couple of times with 'Canelo', with Golden Boy, not serious. I respect boxing, I like sport."
The reality is that professional boxing is every bit as much business as it is anything else. But Golovkin tired of the various shenanigans that took place outside the ring.
"Talk too much, I lost interest," he stated.
Promoter Tom Loeffler, who has been the architect of this career since 2012, explained:
"The most frustrated he got last year was when 'Canelo' vacated the title, Billy Joe Saunders turned down the fight and (Chris) Eubank (Jr.) turned down the fight - so (Kell) Brook stepped up because that was really our only option to fight the best welterweight at the time. The challenge for Gennady was to go to London, conquer another market, he sold-out the O2 Arena but that was the challenge he was really looking at. He was never trying to fight a smaller guy. He was the guy that was available at that time that made sense having the O2 Arena already booked."
What clouded the issue was that Golovkin was a unified champion that came with certain responsibilities.
"He doesn't want to give up the belts unless he's pushed to a point where he has no choice," said Golovkin's trainer, Abel Sanchez.
"But this is an important fight for boxing, for us and for 'Canelo'. It's the fight we've been asking for, the fight the public is asking for. The fight that he's been asking for. So I see that sparkle in his eye again, which is important."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
