Gennady Golovkin was ready to put on a STONE just to get a fight as rivals REFUSED to face him… including Canelo
GENNADY GOLOVKIN was once so desperate to get a fight he was willing to put on a STONE to welcome all challengers.
The terrifying Kazakh puncher made his professional debut in 2006 off the back of an Olympic silver winning amateur career.
Golovkin went on a knockout rampage across Europe and South America before debuting Stateside in 2012.
By that time, his reputation exceeded him due to his ferocious fists and finding willing challengers were few and far between.
GGG was already champion at the 11st 6lb middleweight limit but he was ready to go as high as 12st 7lb at light-heavyweight just to find a match.
Golovkin recalls to SunSport: “It was very hard, very difficult to get fights. We tried at 168, in 175 and people simply refused to fight.
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“I remember people like Canelo, they signed documents, paperwork and decided to strip belts in order not to fight me.
“So no matter what people say right now, we still remember the time those people kept silent, wishing nobody would make them fight me.”
Golovkin in 2016 got himself in a WBC mandatory position by winning their interim belt.
It guaranteed himself a shot at Canelo Alvarez, until the Mexican superstar vacated the title a year after winning it against Miguel Cotto.
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Golovkin said: “He boxed Cotto and they signed an agreement, basically conceding to the fact that they were going to fight me, it was mandatory.
“Then, they both refused.”
Golovkin would have to wait another year to get Canelo in the ring, but he was left with further disappointment.
The pair boxed to a contentious draw in 2017 although many felt GGG was robbed of a famous win.
Their rematch a year later lived up to the billing but Canelo walked away with bragging rights in another razor thin decision.
In the years since, he has established himself as boxing’s top attraction, winning belts in four divisions.
Meanwhile Golovkin, 40, has remained at middleweight, starved of a great trilogy with his arch rival.
Canelo, 32, in 2021 became undisputed champion at super-middleweight but in May moved back up to light-heavy.
Although it ended in defeat as Dmitry Bivol, 31, upset the odds to retain his WBA belt.
It paved the way for Golovkin to finally get his crack at redemption, and will move up to 168lb to do so this weekend in Las Vegas live on DAZN.
And GGG’s trainer Johnathon Banks believes fans are in store for another treat only Canelo and GGG are capable of providing.
Banks said: “I think the fight is going to be slightly different. I think Canelo is going to come in similar to the second fight, style-wise.
“He’s going to come in hands up trying to walk him down and I think G is going to be right there, where he goes lateral or back, he’s going to be in position to punch.
“I do think style-wise and temperament-wise and the way their workrate is, Triple G is one of the hardest fights for Canelo.
“I think that’s why it took so long to get this fight back around for the third time, it was a really difficult fight
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“I think they both bring something out of each other, every fighter allows other fighters to do certain things.
“But certain fighters make the other one excel a little bit more, and I think these two guys, it’s something about them that makes the other one a little bit more vicious.”