The promotional push for this fall’s big fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is underway. Yesterday Canelo, Golovkin, and promoter Oscar De La Hoya appeared on ESPN’s First Take to talk about their showdown. Check out some excerpts of what they had to say.
Canelo on if this fight took too long to make happen [Oscar translates for Canelo through his promotional filter]:
“No, I believe it’s happened at the best moment. There’s other fights that were made and took longer, like obviously some fights that we know of. But this was at the best timing, the best moment...
“It took us some time to make it but it was all about the negotiations, it was all about [me] moving up to the middleweight division and being a middleweight. And so now it’s finally here and [I] can’t wait.”
Golovkin on if he’s starting to slip or if he’s been letting his opponents get off on purpose in order to lure in a big fight:
“Uh right now it’s new story. Another story, you know. Canelo’s Canelo. My fight with Canelo is different story. My fight with Kell or Daniel, this is regular fight. Right now is history fight. First step to history fight.
“[I’m] the same [fighter from five years ago]. I feels great. Like a 30, like a 25 years old.”
Canelo on if it bothers him that Golovkin has become a fan favorite with hardcore fans:
“We all have our own fan base and everybody deserves their fan base and at the end of the day we’re gonna have a huge fight but we’re all just loved by everybody.”
Canelo on if the accusation of him ducking Golovkin for this long has bothered him:
“I’ve never ducked nobody since I was 15...I’m gonna use all that motivation to take it out on [Golovkin] on September 16.”
De La Hoya on why he’s so concerned about Mayweather-McGregor when he has his own super-fight to focus on:
“Well it’s not that I’m concerned about it, it really doesn’t affect this fight. This fight is the real fight. this fight is the middleweight fight that the fans have been clamoring for for a long time. And you take a look at the history of the middleweight division with Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Thomas Hearns and ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler, Bernard Hopkins, and now you have Canelo Alvarez versus Triple G. They’re bringing boxing back to the glory days and that’s all that matters. Everything else is just like Triple G says — a show.”
De La Hoya on what’s missing in boxing right now:
“Fights like these. And believe me, September 16th boxing is back.”