by David P. Greisman
In lieu of a fight with middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, Gennady Golovkin and his team sought the kind of challenge that would motivate Golovkin, selecting Willie Monroe Jr. for an HBO fight on May 16 in Southern California.
“Willie Monroe made the most sense. He fought on ESPN four times within the last 12 months. He won the Boxcino tournament. And he’s from here, from upstate New York. He’s known within the United States,” said Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, in an interview in Manhattan on April 25.
“Gennady wants to test himself. He hasn’t fought a southpaw since his HBO debut against [Grzegorz] Proksa. Willie has a very unconventional style. When I called Artie Pelullo, his promoter, he was surprised that I would call him and ask for the southpaw specifically. That’s what Gennady wanted. Abel is on board. He wants to perfect his style against any different style.”
Golovkin, who took Proksa out in five rounds in September 2012, noted that southpaw boxers have presented difficulty for other star fighters.
“He [Monroe] is good fighter. I think he is difficult for me because he is southpaw, has good speed,” Golovkin said. “Everybody who is good boxer has problem with southpaw. Canelo [Alvarez] with Cuba guy [Erislandy Lara]. Miguel Cotto has problem with [Austin] Trout. This is new style for me, new situation for me.”
Said Loeffler: “Gennady has 19 knockouts in a row now. It’ll be a challenge to see if he can get off the ring and slow down Monroe, or if Monroe can out-box him. That’s really the challenge.”
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