By Brian Webber: In what could be said is the biggest fight of Gennadiy Golovkin’s career against Canelo Alvarez, the popular Kazak warrior revealed on Thursday that he’d be heading into retirement soon.
Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) isn’t saying when he’ll retire, but many boxing fans believe he’ll bow out of the sport if he loses the trilogy match against Canelo on September 17th.
If Golovkin loses that fight, he can forget about getting a lucrative fourth fight against Canelo, and there’s nobody out there at 160 or 168 that would bring him the same huge payday.
Golovkin absolutely needs a win over Canelo to give him a shot at a fourth fight, and it would be a massive accomplishment if he could do so.
It’s important that Golovkin get the most out of his aging body in their trilogy match against Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) because he won’t get another opportunity without a win.
“I’m going to retire soon anyway,” Golovkin said to The Sun. “Let’s face it, I’m 40 years old and nearing my retirement. I don’t feel any hatred towards him.
“To me, he’s just an athlete, just another human being. Just a boxer. I guess that’s how he, as a human being, decided to behave and decided to think of himself, love himself and position himself,” said Golovkin about Canelo.
Although Canelo insists that the reason he’s angry at Golovkin is because of the trash-talking he did before their last fight, it’s more likely Canelo is putting up a false front to show the boxing fans that he’s not the same guy that was beaten by Dmitry Bivol last May.
Canelo choosing to project strength & aggressiveness after the loss to Bivol is predictable. He’s got to make boxing fans think that wasn’t the real him that lost that fight.
“We had a normal relationship,” said Golovkin about Canelo. “But he then felt too much of himself. He’s now a big star, so the consequences of that were probably a side effect of him shooting to fame.
“I don’t feel like he is any different because I honestly don’t think about him. Too much attention is being placed on him, but he’s not bothering me at all.”
