Gennady Golovkin may be on the veteran side of boxing at 38, but his competitive edge remains as sharp as ever.
The ‘Big Drama Show’ rolls back into town on Friday night when the IBF middleweight champion makes his first appearance for 14 months against mandatory challenger Kamil Szeremeta (21-0, 5 KOs) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Yet Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) is in no mood for retirement and has aimed menacing shots at a 47-year-old Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs), who is embarking on an improbable comeback and recently suggested ‘GGG’ would prove an easy night’s work for him – a view not widely shared.
De La Hoya formerly promoted Golovkin’s great rival Canelo Alvarez and is no stranger to burrowing under the champion’s skin.
Worryingly, the Kazakhstan puncher sounds like he would be willing to accommodate De La Hoya, who was last in the ring 12 years ago when he was thoroughly dismantled by a much smaller Manny Pacquiao.
“You know Oscar, you know how dirty his mouth is,” Golovkin told AFP. “Everything involving Gennady Golovkin for him is a nightmare. He can say whatever. But let me put it this way – if I got an opportunity to legally kill a person in the ring, I might seize it.”
On a weekend where long-time nemesis Canelo returns to action against Callum Smith, ‘GGG’ seems to accept their trilogy fight is further away than ever after the Mexican star sneaked a controversial draw and narrow points win in previous meetings in 2017 and 2018. A third match has failed to materialise, much to the chagrin of Golovkin who felt shortchanged by the judges’ scorecards on both previous occasions.
“I don’t think about this because I’m tired of thinking about it,” said Golovkin. “It’s been over two years that we’ve been throwing this around. It’s not my fault that this fight has not taken place.
“Currently, it’s too early to say, but there is a possibility this fight might never happen.”