By Michael Montero – On the afternoon of August 23rd in Big Bear Lake, California, Abel Sanchez opened his gym to the media for a glimpse into the routine that has molded Gennady Golovkin into the finest middleweight in the world. Golovkin, along with his sparring partners, put in a full workout in front of the boxing press without missing a beat. There was plenty of sweat along with plenty of smiles; indeed the crew up at “The Summit” makes everybody feel like family, inside the ring and out. “There are no egos in this gym,” light heavyweight veteran and GGG sparring partner Darnell Boone told us, “everybody treats you like family, they’re great people.”
Promoter Tom Loeffler kicked off the day’s proceedings by introducing Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez into the gym. The Nicaraguan star, considered by many to the best pound for pound boxer in the world, is just wrapping up his first camp at The Summit ahead of his fight against Mexico’s Carlos Cuadras. This will not only mark Chocolatito’s first bout at 115lbs, but his first time headlining a card in the United States. The Gonzalez camp noted that while they have trained in high altitude before, it was nowhere near as high as Big Bear Lake, which is right around 7,000 feet above sea level. They believe that extreme high altitude training will give them a new edge in the ring September 10th inside The Forum in Los Angeles. Roman said that his goal is to win his fourth world title and dedicate it to Alexis Arguello, his hero and fellow countryman, who came up short in his attempt for a fourth world title against American Aaron Pryor in the early eighties. After a briefpresentation in the ring and some interviews, Team Gonzalez made their way out of the gym and Team Golovkin got set up for their workout.
While most fighters may do a round or two of mitt work and call it a day for their media workouts, but Abel Sanchez demands his charge breaks a serious sweat. There were no boxing drills at all, just round after round of exercises that displayed just how ready GGG is for September 10th. There were a few rounds of stretching and warming up, three rounds of jump rope, then three rounds punching with weights – a round of one-twos, a round of hooks, and a round of uppercuts. It was entertaining watching Gennady’s sparring partners try to keep up with him, but they just couldn’t. Golovkin punched continuously through all three rounds, while giving a couple of the younger training partners beside him some pointers on proper elbow placement, footwork and a little motivation when they slowed down. Up next were several rounds of shadow boxing, footwork, neck exercises, core work (Golvokin works his core three times a day in fact) and more. Throughout the process Gennady would occasionally joke with the media saying “this easy work” and “today easy day” while leading by example in front of his sparring partners, never slowing down for a moment. When it was all said and done, most of us press members felt exhausted just from observing.
Golovkin, who entered camp right around 170lbs, looks as if he could make the middleweight limit of 160lbs today. He’s truly in peak form and if these open media workouts provided just a glimpse of the routine they do on a daily basis, it’s clear to see just how focused and dedicated the champion is. The effortless way in which Gennady poured through his workout today, while smiling, joking and providing leadership along the way, made it seem as if he could keep this up for years. But for now it’s Kell Brook in less than weeks, and the sold out crowd at the O2 Arena should be in for quite a “Big Drama Show”.
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