You know you’ve attained at least a modicum of pop culture relevency when TMZ comes a-calling. In this video interview, Gennady Golovkin stops by TMZ Sports studios to talk about his big fight against Canelo Alvarez this September. Check out some excerpts of what he had to say below.
On if he feels this is the biggest fight of his career:
“Absolutely. This is the biggest fight of my career. You know, I just waited last two years...Right now it’s very serious.”
On if he’s ever faced someone who punches as hard as Canelo:
“No, nobody. I think he’s first. He’s first a real champion.”
On how he prepares for someone like that:
“The same. The same like 100%, and a little bit different because different style - he knows me, I know him, we trained together like four years ago. And he’ll be different. My coach Abel Sanchez has plan.”
On if he thinks this fight ends in a knockout or goes this distance:
“I don’t know, this is boxing. This is huge fight for us. I think [we’re both ready for] big drama show, like big knockout, and distance.”
On if Canelo is in for a rude awakening:
“Absolutely.”
On if he saw any flaws in Canelo’s game in his fight against Chavez Jr:
“It’s very interesting for me because why Canelo not beat him? Not beat him as knocking down. Not stopping him?! This is interest[ing]. He looks terrible.”
On if he’s saying Canelo should’ve gone for the knockout.:
“Yes, he must!” [Sucks teeth and shakes head]
On his thoughts on Canelo never taking a seat in between rounds for the entire Chavez Jr. fight:
“Ah this is fake, it’s fake. If you have a lot of energy, a lot of power, please, show me in this next round, you know? If you feel you don’t want to sit down after first round, please, stop him in the second round.
“This is like a circus, like ‘ok I have power, I have my muscles’ [shrugs]. It’s not for fans - it’s maybe for girls...”
On there appearing to be a competition between Canelo-Golovkin and Mayweather-McGregor and why fans should watch his event over the other:
“Because it’s real fight, it’s true fight. You know, it’s not [interesting] for me, Floyd and Conor. You know I think it’s a good fight for Conor because he make a lot of money for his family, you know, for his life. It’s not [interesting] for sport, for me. My focus is on real fight.
On if he thinks he’ll ever get a shot at Floyd Mayweather down the line:
“Never. Never...[He’s] not afraid, no. I think it’s impossible for him.”