By Lyle Fitzsimmons

Consensus middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is a bad man.

Or, as boxing fans might put it… he’s a baaaaaaad man.

So much so that simply finding qualified opponents willing to share a ring with him is difficult.

And considering he’s unbeaten in 35 professional fights, has defended his International Boxing Organization title 13 times and hasn’t allowed a foe to hear a scheduled final bell since the Bush Administration, it’s hard to blame them.

Of course, that doesn’t make the jobs of his support team any easier.

Promoter Tom Loeffler has to work doubly hard to secure fights, and trainer Abel Sanchez has to keep his man motivated enough to grind through training even without the lure of a lucrative payday.

Sanchez, though, wouldn’t trade his gig for the world.

He began working with Golovkin in June 2010, was in the corner when he won his championship 18 months later and has played a vital role in transforming an erect, mechanical boxer into the sport’s most prolific knockout artist.

The tandem will reap its biggest financial windfall on Saturday in London, where Golovkin will meet the ambitious challenge of IBF welterweight king Kell Brook, who’ll climb two weight classes to vie for the 160-pound crown on his home turf at the O2 Arena.

Team Golovkin contends that the Brook fight was made only after several other matches were vetoed by the would-be opponents – including WBO middleweight claimant Billy Joe Saunders and another well-known Englishman, Chris Eubank Jr., whose father held titles at 160 and 168 from 1990 to 1995.

I caught up with Sanchez during training camp to chat briefly about the Brook fight, the angst caused by being such a widely avoided opponent and his hopes for actual fights in the future.

BoxingScene.com: Tell me about this fight from your point of view? Some people like it, some don't. Why are the people who like it correct? Why is it a viable and worthwhile matchup?

Abel Sanchez: With marquee names running in the opposite direction, we need to keep GGG busy. Brook is the best welter in the world, (he’s) having the same issues we are securing a major fight (and is an) undefeated champion with KO power.

BoxingScene.com: As a trainer, assess Brook as an opponent. Why is he dangerous and what does he provide that some of the middleweights Gennady has fought could not provide?

Sanchez: Everybody is dangerous on any night, but GGG is a special breed. Nobody from 154 to 168 lasts the distance.

BoxingScene.com: How frustrated are Gennady and you at this point that you haven't been able to land the marquee fights -- Ward, Canelo, whomever -- that could be out there? Does it irritate you that even at this point you're forced to fight a welterweight on his home turf?

Sanchez: No frustrated at all. Can’t force the weak of character and grit to sign a contract or stop yapping.

BoxingScene.com: If things are going well for Gennady on fight night, what will this one look like? Will he attempt to impose size and power on Brook immediately, or try and stretch him into later rounds?

Sanchez: Once he hurts Brook he will put him away.

BoxingScene.com: If you could simply make one phone call and have any fight happen for Gennady, who would be the opponent, and why? Ward? Canelo? Floyd? Kovalev? Someone else?

Sanchez: Let’s hope that those mentioned don’t wait until Tom Loeffler has the next fight set up before they all get brave and start to talk about GGG. That’s par for the past.

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This week’s title fight schedule:

FRIDAY

IBF/IBO junior welterweight/super lightweight titles -- Moscow, Russia
Eduard Troyanovsky (champion/No. 6 IWBR) vs. Keita Obara (No. 3 IBF/No. 36 IWBR)
Troyanovsky (24-0, 21 KO): Third IBO title defense; Fourteen straight wins by stoppage (61 total rounds)
Obara (16-1-1, 15 KO): First title fight; Second fight outside of Japan (0-0-1, 0 KO)
Fitzbitz says: Troyanovsky has yet to make a name for himself in a star-sopped environment at 140 and 147 pounds, but he’s in relatively easy here and should keep his KO streak going. Troyanovsky in 5

Vacant IBF lightweight title -- Reading, Pennsylvania
Richard Commey (No. 3 IBF/No. 16 IWBR) vs.  Robert Easter Jr. (No. 4 IBF/No. 5 IWBR)
Commey (24-0, 22 KO): First title fight; Second fight in the United States (1-0, 1 KO)
Easter (17-0, 14 KO): First title fight; Five straight wins by stoppage (18 total rounds)
Fitzbitz says: The visiting African has more fights and more KOs, but his quality of opposition is suspect and the fact that Easter is fighting on American turf can’t be a bad thing. He wins. Easter in 9

SATURDAY

IBF/IBO/WBC middleweight titles -- London, United Kingdom
Gennady Golovkin (champion/No. 1 IWBR) vs. Kell Brook (unranked/unranked IWBR)
Golovkin (35-0, 32 KO): Fourteenth IBO title defense; First fight in the United Kingdom
Brook (36-0, 25 KO): Fifth title fight (4-0); Fourteenth fight beyond welterweight limit (13-0, 8 KO)
Fitzbitz says: Triple-G is a star for good reason. He’s terrific. But Brook is the best foe he’s met as champion, and he’s not the typical shrimp climbing the ladder. Upset of 2016! Brook by decision

IBF bantamweight title – London. United Kingdom
Lee Haskins (champion/No. 9 IWBR) vs. Stuart Hall (No. 1 IBF/No. 26 IWBR)
Haskins (33-3, 14 KO): Second title defense; Beat Hall by decision (UD 12) in 2012
Hall (20-4-2, 7 KO): Fifth title fight (1-2-1); Held IBF title at 118 pounds (2013-14, one defense)
Fitzbitz says: Haskins was the better man when they met four years ago and there’s been nothing occurring lately that indicates the first result will change. Haskins by decision

IBF flyweight title – London, United Kingdom
John Riel Casimero (champion/No. 4 IWBR) vs. Charlie Edwards (No. 14 IBF/No. 91 IWBR)
Casimero (22-3, 14 KO): First title defense; Held IBF title at 108 pounds (2012-14, four defenses)
Edwards (8-0, 3 KO): First title fight; First fight scheduled for more than 10 rounds
Fitzbitz says: Edwards has been groomed for appearances in the big rooms since he turned pro last year, but he’s biting off a bit more than he can chew with a guy like Casimero. Casimero by decision

WBC super flyweight title -- Inglewood, California
Carlos Cuadras (champion/No. 2 IWBR) vs. Roman Gonzalez (unranked/unranked IWBR)
Cuadras (35-0-1, 27 KO): Seventh title defense; Second fight in the United States (1-0, 1 KO)
Gonzalez (45-0, 38 KO): Fifteenth title fight (14-0); Held titles at 105, 108 and 112 pounds
Fitzbitz says: There are a lot of reasons to like Cuadras, because he’s a pretty good fighter. But in this case, he’s in with a great one. Gonzalez, in this case, simply has too much to offer. Gonzalez in 10

Last week’s picks: 2-2 (WON: Taguchi, Inoue; LOSS: Kono, Arroyo)
2016 picks record: 60-17 (77.9 percent)
Overall picks record: 792-265 (74.9 percent)

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.