By Edward Chaykovsky
It's not easy to secure an opponent for WBA/IBO/WBC-interim middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28KOs). He returns on February 21 in Monaco against WBC silver champion Martin Murray (29-1-1, 12KOs).
Golovkin tried to get a fight with Felix Sturm for several years without success. He failed in getting Sergio Martinez and Peter Quillin in the ring for a unification. For now, WBC champion Miguel Cotto has little interest in the fight. And discussions to face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fell apart.
Trainer Abel Sanchez anticipates an eventual shift in the landscape. Golovkin has knocked out his last 18 opponents. If he continues to take care of business in the same manner, Sanchez feels confident the other champions and notable names will be forced to face Golovkin.
"No, it’s not frustrating. Gennady’s only been on the HBO scene and the American scene for just a little over two years — so we’re patient. As long as he stays busy and continues to learn and continues to improve and continues to destroy the guys that we put in front of him, eventually those guys are gonna run out of excuses," Sanchez told On The Ropes Boxing Radio .
"He drew 9,400 people at the StubHub Center, I read that his HBO viewership was over 1.3 million, so we’re doing what we need to do. As time goes on, those guys will run out of excuses like - 'he’s not marketable enough, he doesn’t draw' - because it’s obvious that he’s doing all the things that they’re saying that he can’t do on a consistent basis."
