Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY SportsGennady
Golovkin followed a right-hand uppercut with a left hook to the body
that finished Matthew Macklin in the third round Saturday, July 1,2013 in
Mashantucket, Conn.
After a deliberate amateur career that took him out of Kazakhstan to the Athens Olympics, where he beat Andre Dirrell on the way to a silver medal, Golovkin is eager to take on the world's best middleweights immediately. His major knockout power and minor name recognition have made it difficult to get his calls returned, but Golovkin's camp is confident his first HBO appearance will tantalize boxing fans and move him up the list in a deep division.
His boyish face has almost no pugilistic scars, but the 30-year-old Golovkin is eager to show North America he's a fighter.
"He's going to be one of the good guys to root for in boxing," said Tom Loeffler, the managing director of K2 Promotions, the Klitschko brothers' company. "We don't sign a lot of fighters, but we went out of our way for Gennady. He won't just be limited to the Russian-speaking community, because his style will come across to boxing fans, and people will want to see him fight."
Golovkin has been a poorly kept secret for several years since his amateur career. He beat several of that sport's biggest names, including Lucian Bute, Andy Lee, Matvey Korobov, Daniel Geale and Dirrell — but until a messy divorce from his previous promotional company about two years ago, Golovkin fought almost exclusively in Germany, his adopted home.
Golovkin was determined to become a worldwide name, dreaming of following in the Klitschko brothers' footsteps by fighting in Madison Square Garden and Staples Center. He signed with K2 and went into training in Big Bear, Calif., with Abel Sanchez, the veteran trainer behind Terrible Terry Norris and many other top talents.
Sanchez was stunned by Golovkin's talent, and impressed by his attitude from their first meeting. He's trying to add Mexican-style aggression to Golovkin's Soviet-style amateur discipline, hopefully producing a fearsome hybrid champion.
"I have a chalkboard in the gym, and I wrote Ali's name, Floyd Mayweather's name and his name," Sanchez said. "I told him, 'You could be right there.' He was all sheepish, but once I felt his hands, and I saw how smart he was in the ring and how he caught on — sheesh. He's going to be the most-avoided fighter in boxing, or he's going to get the chance he deserves."
When Golovkin is asked to list his favorite fighters, his eyes light up. He worships American champions: Sugar Ray Robinson, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali.
"I like the middles," Golovkin said. "Fast, strong guys who are good athletes, who have good conditioning."
Although he plans to keep living in Stuttgart with his wife and 3-year-old son, Golovkin's determination to be an American success keeps him in Big Bear, high in the mountains above Los Angeles, for two or three months at a time.
He kills time between workouts with trips to the movies and the ice cream parlor, also playing basketball and volleyball to drive away the boredom.
Read more @ LINK: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/08/31/golovkin-heads-to-us-with-middleweight-title-hopes168819/
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