Golovkin won his first major world championship, the WBA interim middleweight title, by defeating Milton Núñez in 2010. He was elevated to WBA (Regular) champion in the same year, and in 2011 would win the vacant IBO middleweight title by defeating Lajuan Simon. In 2014, Golovkin was elevated to his current status of WBA (Super) champion and successfully defended both his titles against Daniel Geale. Later that year he defeated Marco Antonio Rubio to add the WBC interim middleweight title to his collection, and defeated David Lemieux in 2015 to win the IBF middleweight title. After Canelo Álvarez vacated his WBC middleweight title in 2016, Golovkin was elevated to full champion and now holds world titles by three of the four major boxing sanctioning bodies.
A calculating pressure fighter, Golovkin is known for his powerful and precise punching, balance, and methodical movement. With an unbroken streak of 23 knockouts that spanned from 22 November 2008 to 18 March 2017, he holds the highest knockout percentage – 89.8% – in middleweight championship history. In 2016, he achieved his 17th title defense by knockout, which equalled the record set by Wilfredo Gómez in 1982. Golovkin is also said to have one of the best chins in modern boxing, having never been knocked down or knocked out in a total of 387 fights, neither as a professional nor amateur.[7][8]
In 2006 Golovkin moved from his native Kazakhstan to Stuttgart, Germany, and then in late 2014 to Santa Monica, California, where he currently lives with his family. He trains in Big Bear, California.[9] He and his wife Alina have a son, Vadim, who is in primary school.[10] Golovkin speaks four languages: Kazakh, German, Russian and English.[11] His fraternal twin brother, Maxim, an amateur boxer, joined Gennady's camp and team in 2012.[12] Golovkin said that he wanted his son to attend school in California, because his training camp, team and promotions are based in California, a lot of his friends live in California and Golovkin said that California is a beautiful place.[13] Golovkin said that his favorite food is beef.[14] Golovkin said that he enjoys playing games with his son and spending time with his family.[15]
Early life
Gennady Golovkin was born on April 8, 1982, in the city of Karagandy in the Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union (now Karagandy, Kazakhstan) as one of four brothers to a Russian father who was a coal miner, and a Korean mother[16] who was an assistant in a chemical laboratory.[17][18] Golovkin's first boxing gym was in Maikuduk, Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where his first boxing coach was Victor Dmitriev.[19]
Golovkin had two older brothers named Sergey and Vadim and a twin brother named Max. Sergey and Vadim had encouraged Golovkin to start boxing when Golovkin was eight years old. When Golovkin was nine years old, Golovkin's two older brothers joined the Soviet Army. In 1990, the government told Golovkin's family that Vadim was dead. In 1994, the government had told Golovkin's family that Sergey was dead.[20]
Golovkin said that his first boxing trainer was "very good".[21]
As a youth, Golovkin would walk the streets with his brothers, who went around picking fights for him with grown men. When asked by his brothers, "Are you afraid of him?," Golovkin would respond with "No," and be told to fight. "My brothers, they were doing that from when I was in kindergarten," Golovkin said. "Every day, different guys."[22]
Amateur career
He was a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program since November 2002.
After ending his amateur career in 2005, Golovkin signed a professional deal with the Universum Box-Promotion (UBP) and made his professional debut in May 2006. By the end of 2008 Golovkin's record stood at 14–0 (11 KO) and whilst his best win was over Ian Gardner it was obvious that he had the talent to reach the top as long he was let off the proverbial leash. Unfortunately under Universum that didn't seem likely to happen any time soon and Golovkin was given 4 more relatively easy bouts in 2009. In 2010, Universum started to run into financial issues after having been dropped by German television channel ZDF. This caused a number of issues for Golovkin who was effectively unable to fight in Germany, and contract disputes between the two parties got complicated.[24]
Golovkin terminated his contract with Universum in January 2010 and stated the following in an interview: "The reason for this decision is that I've always been placed behind Felix Sturm and Sebastian Zbik by Universum. Our demands to fight against Felix Sturm or Sabastian Zbik have been always rejected on absurd grounds. Universum had no real plan or concept for me, they did not even try to bring my career forward. They would rather try to prevent me from winning a title as long as Sturm and Zbik are champions. Further more, bouts against well-known and interesting opponents were held out in prospect, but nothing happened. This situation was not acceptable. It was time to move forward."[25]
Signing with K2 and training with Abel Sanchez
Golovkin was determined to become a worldwide name, dreaming of following in the Klitschko brothers' footsteps by fighting in Madison Square Garden and Staples Center. He signed with K2 and went into training in Big Bear, California, with Abel Sanchez, the veteran trainer behind Hall of Famer Terry Norris and many other top talents. Sanchez was stunned by and impressed with Golovkin's talent and attitude from their first meeting. He has since then worked to add Mexican-style aggression to Golovkin's Kazakh-style amateur discipline, thereby producing a formidable hybrid champion. "I have a chalkboard in the gym, and I wrote Ali's name, Manny Pacquiao's name and his name," Sanchez said. "I told him, 'You could be right there.' He was all sheepish, but once I felt his hands, and I saw how smart he was in the ring and how he caught on... sheesh. He's going to be the most-avoided fighter in boxing, or he's going to get the chance he deserves."[26]
Fighting in the United States
Golovkin vs. Proksa, Rosado
Distant view of Golovkin fighting against Gabriel Rosado at Madison Square Garden in January 2013.
Golovkin put on an impressive performance in his American debut by battering The Ring's #10-rated Middleweight Grzegorz Proksa (28–1, 21 KO). Golovkin's fifth-round TKO was Proksa's first loss by knockout.[27] In October when Super WBA Middleweight Champion Daniel Geale signed to fight Anthony Mundine in a rematch, the WBA stripped Geale of the title and named Golovkin the sole WBA champion at middleweight.[28]
Golovkin followed up his Proksa win with a TKO victory over The Ring's #9-rated light middleweightGabriel Rosado (21–5, 13 KO) on the HBOSalido-Garcia card in the co-main event. The fight was halted when Rosado's corner threw in the towel to save Rosado, who was battered and bleeding heavily from his nose and left eye. At the time of the stoppage, Golovkin led on the judges' scorecards 60–54, 60–54, 59–55.
On March 30, 2013, Golovkin became the first to knock out former WBA interim super welterweight champion Nobuhiro Ishida (24–8–2, 9 KO), finishing him in the third round with a vicious overhand right.[30][31][32][Video 1]
On November 2, 2013, Golovkin successfully defended his titles against The Ring's #9-rated Middleweight Curtis Stevens (25–3, 18 KO) via an eighth-round technical knockout, methodically breaking down the latter with many ferocious punches to the head and body.[33] Stevens went down hard in the 2nd from two left hooks to the head, and after watching their fighter absorb enormous punishment Stevens' corner called for a halt in the 8th.[34] The event captured huge interest around the world, with it being broadcast in more than 100 countries worldwide, including SKY in the United Kingdom, Channel 1 in Russia and Polsat TV in Poland.[35] The win was Golovkin's 15th straight stoppage victory and further cemented his status as one of the greatest finishers in the middleweight division. Golovkin's purse was $400,000 while Stevens received $290,000.
Golovkin's camp requested that he be awarded the WBA (Super) Middleweight title in December 2013, but this was refused by the WBA, as Golovkin was already granted special permission for a fight prior to his mandatory commitment.[36]
Golovkin vs. Adama
Golovkin's tenth title defense took place in Monte Carlo on February 1, 2014, against former title challenger Osumanu Adama (22–3, 16 KO), which he won by seventh round stoppage. At the end of the 1st round, Golovkin dropped Adama with a solid jab and right hand. Golovkin went on to drop Adama again in the 6th by landing two sharp left hooks to his head, and then again in the 7th with a hard jab. Golovkin then nailed Adama with a left hook to the jaw, sending Adama staggering and forcing the referee to stop the bout.[37]
Unified middleweight champion
On June 3, 2014, after ten successful title defenses, the World Boxing Association officially elevated Golovkin from Middleweight champion to (Super) champion. Golovkin was also granted a special permission to defend his title against Daniel Geale. Golovkin had been previously ordered to face #2 Jarrod Fletcher.[38]
Golovkin vs. Geale
On July 26, 2014, Golovkin defended his title for the 11th time, defeating The Ring's #2-rated Middleweight[39]Daniel Geale via a third round stoppage. Golovkin dropped Geale in the second round. A right hand in the third sent Geale down again from which he never recovered completely. A staggering Geale prompted a swift stoppage from referee Michael Ortega. Geale's defeat started from a stiff Golovkin Jab, according to GGG's trainer Abel Sanchez.[citation needed] The accuracy of punches by both fighters were at the 29% mark by Compubox, but the effectiveness of those that connected resulted in a noteworthy win for Golovkin in his record.[40]
Golovkin vs. Murray
On February 21, 2015, Golovkin, having previously defeated both Nobuhiro Ishida and Osumanu Adama, defended his middleweight titles against British fighter Martin Murray in Monte Carlo. Murray started the fight off well defensively, but by the fourth round Golovkin began to heat up and started finding Murray consistently. Murray was knocked down twice in the fourth round, even sustaining an additional punch to the head while down on a knee. Golovkin found it much easier to land his punches on Murray in the middle-rounds. Although Murray's chin withstood a lot of Golovkin punches in those middle-rounds, he eventually went down again in round 10 after sustaining a lot of punishment. Murray came out for round 11 and therefore had lasted longer in the ring with Golovkin than any other of his opponents so far, although Murray came out with a bloodied countenance and Golovkin continued to connect with shots, the referee stopped the bout as he felt Murray was not fighting back effectively and had taken too many punches. Golovkin's victory over Murray was his 13th consecutive successful title defense, placing him third all-time in consecutive middleweight title defenses behind Bernard Hopkins (19) and Carlos Monzón (14).[41]
Golovkin vs. Monroe Jr.
On May 16, 2015, Golovkin successfully defended his titles against American Willie Monroe Jr. (19–1, 6 KOs) at The Forum, Inglewood, California. In the first minute of the first round, Monroe started fast with superior movement and jabs, but after that the pace slowed with GGG cutting off the ring and outworking him. In round six, GGG came forward and quickly caught an off guard Monroe with power shots along the ropes, and Monroe went down to his knees, just beating the ten count of referee Jack Reiss. Referee Reiss was willing to give Monroe another chance, but Monroe did not respond. Reiss immediately stopped the contest. At the time of the stoppage, the scorecards read 50–43, 50–43, and 49–44 for Golovkin. Golovkin landed 133 of 297 punches thrown (45%), Monroe landed 87 punches of 305 thrown (29%).[42]
It was announced in July 2015 that Golovkin would be defending his three world titles against IBF world champion David Lemieux (34–2, 31 KOs) in a unification fight at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 17, 2015 live by HBO Pay-Per-View. Both boxers took to twitter to announce the news. Lemieux won the then vacant IBF title by outpointing Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam in June 2015.[43]
Golovkin defeated Lemieux via eighth-round technical knockout to unify his WBA (Super), IBO, and WBC Interim Middleweight titles with Lemieux's IBF title. Golovkin established the pace with his jab while landing his power shots in between, keeping Lemieux off-balance the entire night. Lemieux was dropped by a body shot in the fifth round and sustained an additional punch to the head after he had taken a knee. He was badly staggered in the eighth, so the referee was forced to halt the bout. With this 21st consecutive knockout victory, Golovkin passed Monzón for most consecutive middleweight title defenses with 15.
Golovkin vs. Wade
A 2016 stamp sheet of Kazakhstan dedicated to Golovkin
On February 10, 2016, it was announced that Golovkin would defend his IBF and WBA middleweight titles on HBO against IBF mandatory challenger Dominic Wade (18–0, 12 KOs) on April 23 at the Forum in Inglewood, California. This bout wasn't expected to be very competitive for Golovkin, who also stated that he wouldn't underestimate Wade and added, "I’m happy to fight again at the Forum in front of my fans and friends in Los Angeles, Dominic Wade is a very hungry and skilled middleweight who is undefeated and will be another big test for me." Wade was very thankful for getting the opportunity to fight Golovkin, "I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to fight ‘GGG’ for the IBF Middleweight Championship on April 23! I’ve worked hard my entire career to get to this point. I’m poised and ready to take on the challenge."[44] The card was co-featured by Roman Gonzalez who successfully defended his WBC flyweight title with a unanimous points decision over McWilliams Arroyo. Golovkin successfully defended his World Middleweight titles with an early stoppage of Wade, his 22nd successive knockout. Unbeaten Wade was knocked down three times before the fight was stopped with 23 seconds remaining in round 2.[45] Golovkin reportedly earned a career high $2m for this fight compared to the $500,000 that Wade earned.
Golovkin vs. Alvarez negotiations
Following Saúl Álvarez's victory against Miguel Cotto, talks began between the Golovkin and Alvarez camps over the future WBC title defense. In the end, an agreement was ultimately reached to allow interim bouts before the fight to, in the words of WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, "maximize the interest in their highly anticipated showdown.[46] The fight was anticipated to take place well into 2016.
On May 18, 2016, Álvarez vacated the WBC middleweight title, which resulted in Golovkin being immediately awarded the title by the WBC who officially recognized him as their middleweight champion.[47]
On July 8, 2016, it was announced that Golovkin would fight undefeated British IBF Welterweight Champion Kell Brook (36–0, 25 KOs). The fight took place on September 10, 2016, at the O2 Arena in London, England. Brook was scheduled to fight in a unification bout against Jessie Vargas, whereas there was negotiations for Golovkin to fight Chris Eubank Jr., however negotiations fell through and Brook agreed to move up two weight divisions to challenge Golovkin. This was Golovkin's 17th world title defence. The fight aired in the United States on HBO and on Sky Box Office pay-per-view in the United Kingdom.[48] Golovkin came out aggressively, going as far as to buckle the Englishman's legs in the first round. He was met with stiff resistance as Brook began to fire back, connecting multiple clean combinations on Golovkin, none of which were able to faze him. In the second round Brook had his greatest success of the fight, but in the process had his right eye socket broken. Over the next three rounds, Golovkin began to break Brook down.The Englishman showed courage, determination and a great chin as he absorbed the bulk of a Golovkin onslaught. Despite this, Brook's corner threw in the towel to protect their fighter's damaged right eye, ending the fight in the fifth round with both boxers still standing.[49][50]
Golovkin vs. Jacobs
Following the win over Brook, there were immediate talks of a WBA unification fight against 'Regular' champion Daniel Jacobs (32–1, 29 KOs), as part of WBA's plan to reduce the amount of world titles in each division from three to one. Team Golovkin spoke of fighting Billy Joe Saunders after the Jacob's fight which would be a middleweight unification fight for all the belts.[51]
The date discussed initially was 10 December, which Golovkin's team had on hold for Madison Square Garden. The date was originally set by HBO for Alvarez after he defeated Liam Smith, but Canelo confirmed he would not be fighting again until 2017 after fracturing his right thumb. There was ongoing negotiations between Tom Loeffler and Al Haymon about the split in purses, if the fight goes to purse bids, it would be a 75–25 split with Golovkin taking the lions share due to him being the 'Super' champion. As the negotiations continued, Jacobs wanted a better split, around 60–40. The WBA granted an extension for the negotiation period on 7 October, as the two sides originally had until October 10 to come to an arrangement or else a purse bid would be due. There was also a request to change the purse bid split to 60–40, which the WBA declined. Golovkin started his training camp for the fight on 17 October.[52][53][54][55]
Loeffler told the LA Times on 18 October, although the negotiations remain active, the fight will not take place on December 10. A new date for early 2017 would need to be set, still looking at Madison Square Garden to host the fight.[56][57] Golovkin prides himself on being an extremely active fighter, and this is the first year since 2012 that he has been in fewer than three fights.[58] WBA president Gilberto Mendoza confirmed in an email to RingTV that a deal had to be made by 5pm on December 7 or a purse bid would be held on December 19 in Panama. Later that day, the WBA announced a purse bid would be scheduled with a minimum bid of $400,000, with Golovkin receiving 75% and Jacobs 25%.[59][60] Although purse bids were announced, Loeffler stated he would carry on negotiations, hopeful that a deal would be reached before the purse bid.[61]
On December 17, terms were finally agreed and it was officially announced that the fight would take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 18, 2017 exclusively on HBO PPV.[62] Golovkin tweeted the announcement via whilst Jacobs uploaded a quick video on social media. At the time of the fight, both fighters had a combined 35 consecutive knockouts. It was reported that Golovkin's IBO world title would not be at stake. The IBO website later confirmed the belt would be at stake.[63][64] HBO officially announced the fight on December 22, being billed as "Middleweight Madness".[65] Loeffler confirmed there was no rematch clause in place.[66] Ultimately, the IBF title was not at stake for Jacobs because he skipped a fight-day weight check. Unlike the other major sanctioning bodies, the IBF requires participants in title fights to submit to a weight check on the morning of the fight, as well as the official weigh-in the day before the fight; at the morning weight check, they can weigh no more than 10 pounds (4.5 kg) above the fight's weight limit.[67]
In front of a sell out crowd of 19,939, the fight went the full 12 rounds. This was the first time that Golovkin fought 12 rounds in his professional career. Golovkin's ring control, constant forward pressure and effective jab lead to a 115-112, 115-112, 114-113 unanimous decision victory, ending his 23 fight knockout streak which dated back to November 2008.[68] ESPN had Golovkin winning 115-112. The opening three rounds were quiet with very little action. In the fourth round, Golovkin dropped Jacobs with a short right hand along the ropes for a flash knockdown. Jacobs recovered, but Golovkin controlled most of the middle rounds. Jacobs was effective in switching between orthodox and southpaw stance, but remained on the back foot. Both boxers were warned once in the fight by referee Charlie Fitch for rabbit punching. According to Compubox punch stats, Golovkin landed 231 of 615 punches (38%) which was more than Jacobs who landed 175 of 541 (32%). Following the fight, some doubted Golovkin did enough to win. Jacobs thought he had won the fight by two rounds and attributed the loss due to the potential big money fight that is Golovkin vs. Canelo. Jacobs also stated after being knocked down, he told Golovkin, "he'd have to kill me." In the post-fight interview, Golovkin said, “I’m a boxer, not a killer. I respect the game.” Before revenue shares, it was reported that Golovkin would earn at least $2.5 million compared to Jacobs $1.75 million.[69][70][71]
On March 24, Tom Loeffler revealed the fight generated 170,000 pay-per-view buys.[72] Lance Pugmire from LA Times reported the live gate was $3.7 million, a big increase from the Golovkin vs. Lemeaux PPV which did $2 million. He also said that merchandise and sponsors were higher.[73]
^ALH EDGAR ESTRADA (September 11, 2012). "Boxing's Best Kept Secret". athleteslivehere.com. Archived from the original on 20 May 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2013. ((cite web)): |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 10 December 2012 suggested (help)
^In a video titled, "Champion To Champion – Gennady "GGG" Golovkin – UCN ORIGINAL SERIES", which was published to YouTube on October 13, 2014, Golovkin said, "My son going to school. I want him going school to, in California." The interviewer then asked why Golovkin wanted his son to attend school in California in particular. Golovkin replied, "I living in California. My training camp, my training camp, my team living in California. My promotions living in California. You know, just, I have a lot of friends in California. Just, I feel this city. I feel this stuff. Cali's beautiful. Beautiful weather, beautiful people. You know, just. I think very important, not just for me, for my family. For future. For future, just, for my son, for my wife, same, same. Just, very important for me." The first quote starts at the 10:29 mark of the video, and the second quote ends at the 11:11 mark of the video.
^In a video titled, "GENNADY GOLOVKIN ANSWERS PERSONAL QUESTIONS ABOUT HIMSELF IN THIS Q&A", which was published to YouTube on January 14, 2015, Golovkin was asked the question by an interviewer, "What's your favorite food?". Golovkin responded, "Uh, my favorite food, I think so. Beef, I like meat. I like beef, lamb, steak, beef." The question by the interviewer starts at the 1:02 mark of the video, and Golovkin's response ends at the 1:13 mark of the video.
^In a video titled, "GENNADY GOLOVKIN ANSWERS PERSONAL QUESTIONS ABOUT HIMSELF IN THIS Q&A", which was published to YouTube on January 14, 2015, an interviewer asked Golovkin the question, "Your favorite hobby, if you have one, outside of boxing? It could be a sport or it could just be like, anything, painting." Golovkin responded, "Just, just game with my family, game with my son, just time with my family." The interviewer's question starts at the 4:08 mark of the video, and Golovkin's response ends at the 4:20 mark of the video.
^Boxing Monthly magazine April 2016 issue, article titled "Hurry Up and Wait" written by Michael Montero
^Molded Gennady Golovkin into Tszyu: Golovkin's first coach. (2014). Tengri News. Retrieved November 28, 2016, from link
^Mannix, C. (2013). Heartbreak spearheads Gennady Golovkin's rise. International Boxing Organization. Retrieved November 27, 2016, from link.
^In a video titled, "The real Gennady Golovkin: Childhood days in Kazakhstan, discovering boxing, and more [Part 1]", which was published to YouTube on June 24, 2013, Golovkin talked about his earliest boxing gym memories when he said, "We're, me and my Max, we're going, ten years old, just ten years, we're going to boxing gym, my older brother, just going with boxing gym, just, is very good, just, um, for playing, basketball and soccer. You know, just big interest for small child. Is very good first my trainer, because he can, working with small childs, you know, just for, for small baby just, okay guys, just, where you lag. Just, just little little bit, not every time, not very mad, not very angry. Just, very good atmosphere in gym. I remember first five years, were just not playing, just, yeah, just like game. You know, like computer game, like Sony or Xbox, just game. Is very funny." This quote starts at the 2:31 mark of the video, and the quote ends at the 3:26 mark of the video.
