Trout: Lara Has Been Calling Out Golovkin For a Year Now!

By Edward Chaykovsky

Former junior middleweight world champion Austin Trout would like to see WBA/IBO/IBF middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs) fight a different class of opponent.

According to Trout, Golovkin has been facing opponent who are tailor-made to make him look good.

Some call Golovkin the most avoided man in boxing. Trout rejects that viewpoint, stating that there are plenty of fighters who are willing to face Golovkin but for one reason or another those fights don't happen.

"There are a lot of people that are down to fight Golovkin. It's just not the right people that Golovkin wants. I understand he feels like he is on a superstar stage, but Erislandy Lara has been calling out Golovkin for a year now," Trout told Sky Sports.

"If you look at everyone he has fought, they just all stand right there. The one guy (Willie Monroe Jr) who had good speed, had absolutely no power to keep him off. They are feeding him the perfect guy to make him look great, which I'm not mad about. I wish I had it so easy."

Lara (22-2-2, 13KOs), who has the WBA's junior middleweight title, is willing to face Golovkin at the full middleweight limit of 160-pounds. More than anything else, politics are preventing that fight from taking place. Lara is advised by Al Haymon. Golovkin is an HBO fighter. And HBO has not done business with Haymon in years. Adding to that, Lara has a very difficult style and his tactics, depending on the opponent, are not always friendly on the eyes.

The network is willing to make certain exceptions, depending on the magnitude of the fight. HBO is willing to pay a good fee for a middleweight bout between Golovkin and WBA 'regular' champion Daniel Jacobs, who is handled by Haymon. However, Jacobs is loyal to Showtime and the PBC [Premier Boxing Champions] brand and it's not clear how a fight between the two of them would be worked out.