lol Golovkin taking shots at a bunch of people, obviously in his native tongue, great interview:
Gennady, first, I would like to say that your entrance into the ring was quite unexpected...
- I was sitting in the front row. Canelo invited me into the ring, and I agreed thinking that he wanted to say something to my face or maybe to announce something. But there was nothing. Most likely, his team did not expect that I would go up there. They tried to keep Canelo as far as possible from me.
- What is your general impression of the fight between Canelo and Amir Khan?
- The event was interesting. People liked it, and this is important. Many people believed this fight was invariably easy. Khan went up from 147 pounds and fought in the middleweight, so you need to understand the difference. In its own right, middleweight is considered the most unpredictable weight division where your speed and power should mix well. Khan showed courage in agreeing to fight, but the outcome was logical. The miracle did not happen despite Khan's speed and the good job of his corner. Canelo won as expected.
- Your visit is well covered; you were probably the main guest at the event. Did you feel greater attention or was it casual?
- I think this is a marketing ploy, promotion. All the talks have started long before this fight, long before my fight with Wade. If I did not appear in Las Vegas that would have raised many more questions. I hope that we agree to fight and make it happen. In any case, this was a right move for the future fight. Moreover, as far as I know, this has also been done to draw attention to the Canelo - Khan fight because the tickets were selling not as well as they wanted them to be. HBO utilized their resources to promote the fight.
- Do you remember how many times during this evening gave interviews or provided comments?
- Honestly, I think all accredited journalists approached me (GGG smiles at that moment). Let's see what I told them there...
- I guess you told them that Canelo has no choice but to keep his word given in the ring?
- I've heard many times all these words about readiness to enter the ring and fight, but in the end few fighters are willing to take risks; they have other options, on which they are silent. Canelo is the only engine room of «Golden Boy». Talks on the weight limits and money are only talks. Many people realize that they will use every trick in the book to try to delay the fight. But this is a difficult situation for them. Canelo is being positioned as the best Mexican boxer but his fans more than anyone else insist on the fight. All people are interested in this super fight.
- So, is it time?
- Now - yes, it's time. I believe that everything should be done at the proper time. This is why we agreed after his fight with Cotto that more time is needed for bigger promotion of our fight. I made a mandatory defense, and his team decided to make money and found a suitable opponent two weight divisions lower in Khan. And for all these fights happening, there has been much greater attention to our fight. No one will say the fight is not hot enough. If money is the issue, you can always arrange a rematch and collect even more viewers...this is a normal practice in boxing; you can make a trilogy or fight four times like Pacquiao and Marquez. It can be agreed when it comes to the money. We both stand out from other boxers, people will wait for our rematches. Ward-Gatti, Mayweather-Pacquiao, Barrera-Morales, they were all ready.
- As we know, negotiations have already started...
- There should be no misunderstanding about the negotiations between us, it has all been spelled out by WBC rules; all decisions are based on law. Rules must be respected. The same is true when it came to the weight division. You can fight at 155, 156 or 154.5 pounds, you can come up with your own weight, but when it comes to the middleweight world champion belt, then respect boxing and fight in the appropriate weight limit. It is even more interesting that Canelo is a world champion in the middleweight but has not fought any real middleweights. Yes, everyone has their own goals and plans, but we have to show our respect to the sport and boxing. I want to make clear that if somehow and for some reason the fight does not happen, it would not be our fault.
- How do you react to the criticism of you on the level of your opponents?
- These conversations don’t bother me. No one can chastise me for supposedly choosing to fight a weak opposition. Wade became the mandatory challenger for the IBF belt after Johnson got injured. Rosado after our fight stood by my side. Lemieux was a world champion. Many of the opponents were at the peak of their careers when they fought me. I respect all my opponents. I respect the rules of every organization, and I do not refuse to fight. Kovalev is in the same situation and he doesn’t refuse to fight challengers too. At least I fight with middleweights and do not force opponents from two weight divisions below me to come up.
- What do you think, how ready are opponents who say they are ready to fight you?
All talk but few people really want to.
- Here, for example, Floyd Mayweather talks about his return. Can I at least in theory assume a fight between you and him? He voiced his conditions, but at least he admitted there is a possibility.
- Theoretically, yes. But now Floyd needs all of these statements more than me because he wants to return into the ring and make 50th fight of his career.
- In all the boxing forums the most discussed topics are about you; they say questions about GGG make many fighters uncomfortable during interviews. How do you rate yourself being a "major concern" for opponents?
- I do not think they are negative towards me, but for the last five years I have been in the way of many people. I "crushed" plans of many fighters starting from certain Russian boxers, then boxers from Europe - France, England, Germany; Puerto Rico and Mexico. Martinez constantly avoided me, Geale at first dropped the belt, but you know them all. Media and social networks play a major part in this regard. Many people blatantly add fuel to the flame without reason. Many people use my name to remind people about themselves. You say - Lara. He is a boxer who after all his losses wants to make money, who wants to go out on HBO and thus speculates on big names. But there is a number of much more experienced guys who truly deserve a chance to go on another level.
- If for any reason a fight with Canelo does not take place, are you looking at the possibility to fight Danny Jacobs?
- They are silent so far, but we would very much like to make this fight. We are ready. I hope that they are ready too.
- Then another question about Saunders and the possibility of a fight at Wembley?
- It’s more of a trifling talk. They even talk about fighting on the undercard of Fury, that alone shows lack of understanding of the whole situation by their side, this speaks about their level. We believe that at our level of boxing we do not fight on the undercards. I think that if they really wanted to they would come to the United States, the place where absolutely everyone wants to fight. Froch, Calzaghe became known in America, Hatton made all his big fights in Las Vegas. We are not against the fight with Saunders, we do not even object to have it in England, but his side should have clear understanding of boxing.
- Maybe you can then say a few words on Carl Froch?
- I do not know what to say about him. This is a man whose wife makes the decisions for him. That's all.
- Since we are talking about potential opponents, then I have a question about Chavez Jr. He clearly wants to fight you, and at the same time he has notably changed his mind about you...
- Chavez [fight] is always interesting, this is true. Our fight is always a possibility in the future. We met, we talked. I think after that he changed his mind about me. This fight is possible.
-Let’s talk about the Gonzalez / Golovkin pairing, which by any measure has proven to be very successful in terms of promotion and for the fans. Are you satisfied with this cooperation?
- Of course, Roman is a good boxer and he has earned his right to fight at that level live on HBO. He doesn’t run and shows entertaining boxing. This is a great gift for all the fans because they are able to see two fighters from the pound-for-pound list on one night and can compare our class. I think this is a great gift for the audience.
- Gennady, here is a question about your weight division. How difficult was it to make 164 pounds a month before your fight with Wade? What do you say to those who compare your weight limit with Alvarez’s?
- This is an approach to training that has lasted for the last ten years. And I’m not heavy, I do not weigh much. If I'm cutting 4 pounds, then he needs to drop 9-10 pounds. I'm not as big as many think. 164 pounds has been my weight one month prior to the fight for the last ten years.
- And if there is an interesting offer, will you move up?
- If there is only a really worthwhile offer, we will consider it. But I do not think that now there are big potential fights in the higher weight divisions. There are names, but there is no one who is willing to fight. We also have to take into consideration fighting on different networks. I am now fully focused on the middleweight. I have a specific goal that I pursue.
The rest of the article talks about promotion and his team, etc:
Gennady Golovkin Extensive Interview on Canelo, Much More - Boxing News
