Golovkin: If Canelo has a personal issue, he should have fought me again sooner
Gennadiy Golovkin says he hasn’t been hard to find if indeed Canelo has a personal problem with him.
Gennadiy Golovkin will finally get a long-awaited third fight with Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 17, a fight Canelo has said repeatedly is a personal issue for him now.
But GGG says that if it’s really personal for Canelo and has been for the last four years, the Mexican superstar simply should have fought him sooner and settled it in the ring.
Here’s more of what GGG had to say to Ak and Barak on the DAZN Boxing Show this week/
On whether he worried he wouldn’t get Canelo after the Bivol loss
“I’ll be honest with you, I heard the opinions of a number of experts who said this fight was going to happen, this would be the choice. I wasn’t nervous.”
On his reaction to Bivol beating Canelo in May
“My reaction was, ‘Wow, really? Really?’ I saw a couple of interviews before the fight, like, Eddie (Hearn) making Canelo out to be a hero, like he’s Captain America or something like that. He’s going to cruiserweight (and all this). For me, everything comes back to reality. Canelo is an amazing fighter, 100 percent. Bivol is so good. He’s so good. I almost smile because, like, everything goes back (to reality).”
On how he might do against Bivol
“I have the same question. It’s a good question. Bivol is different. He’s from Russia, it’s a different style, different age. It’s not just one big (thing).”
On Canelo predicting a KO and saying the fight is personal
“We both have game plans. How it’s going to play out, nobody can say. Nobody can tell right now. We’ll see. To make any prediction would be just wrong right now. But with him being so vocal about the knockout and how he’s going to do that, if I were in his shoes, meeting a guy like me going up in weight, who’s 40 years old, I would still not be that vocal. I would still be more humble instead of sharing how I’m going to do this.”
“We keep hearing all those loud words. ‘It’s personal to me,’ but listen, if it’s personal to you, where have you been for four years? You probably should have just tried to find me and settle it. I was here all the time. Make the fight earlier. Settle it in the ring. If we had something before the second fight, when he tested positive and all those things, all that came to an end after the second fight was over. If he had something personal, the third fight should have happened earlier.”
“I’m a boxer, I probably don’t remember if I said something. He’s just saying that I’ve said something, but he’s not saying what I said. ... If you’re accusing somebody of something, show the proof. I don’t think about him at all. After he signed the contract to fight and he failed to fulfill the obligations under this contract, he sort of, like, disappeared from my radar.”
On whether he felt he showed his age against Ryota Murata
“It’s like a chain of events. Of course, age plays a role, and timing, the entire setting. I hope I’ll be better-prepared for my next fight. ... I’ve never considered at any point in my career, like, ‘This is my prime.’ I just continue to be in boxing.”
On whether he’ll be stronger at 168 than 160 now
“There is a drawback. During my entire career, I was following the strategy, making 160, losing weight and training at the same time. Here, I have to make certain adjustments, and those adjustments will be new for me.”
On what’s left after Canelo if he wins, and who he’d want to fight
“I don’t know! I don’t know! ... Bivol, where’s Bivol right now? Bivol beat Canelo! ... I understand, just, you know — it’s a business. It’s not just boxing.”