On boxing’s most credible pound-for-pound lists, Gennady Golovkin ranks anywhere from No. 6 in the world to 10th, or lower.
Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are generally ranked 1-2. Few would argue with that.
But Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, whose job is to sell the undefeated middleweight champion, has plenty of reasons why he believes Golovkin should be a lot higher on P4P lists, if not in the top two.
And it starts with Golovkin’s willingness to fight anyone, anywhere at any time, says Loeffler.
“I pride myself on being the easiest promoter to make a deal with,” Loeffler told USA TODAY Sports by phone this week. “I try to get the best opponents in the ring with Gennady regardless of which affiliation, which promoter, and that’s my job outside the ring. It’s his job inside the ring to put on a show.”
And what a show Golovkin has put on, knocking out his last 18 opponents, all but one inside of eight rounds.
USA TODAY CBS jumps into live boxing arena starting April 4 Loeffler said in recent talks with HBO to discuss Golovkin’s potential opponents, the network gave him a list of 20 or so names.
“We approved all the names and they were just dumbfounded,” Loeffler said. “They’ve never experienced that before as far as being willing to fight anyone.
“I think what should weigh more on people’s pound-for-pound lists is the fact that he is willing to fight anybody, and he’s even willing to go up or down in the weight divisions just to get the biggest challenges in the ring. So far that hasn’t happened but I think 2015 will definitely be a banner year for Gennady.”
It starts on Saturday, when Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) looks to extend his KO streak against Martin Murray (29-1-1, 12 KOs) in Monte Carlo, Monaco (HBO live, 5:45 p.m. ET). Not only has Murray never been stopped, he’s never been knocked down.
“Nobody’s underestimating Martin Murray ? we think he’s one of Gennady’s biggest challenges,” Loeffler says. “Gennady always rises to the occasion when there is someone standing across from him in the ring that’s perceived to be a threat or challenge. He wants to prove that he’s the best in the world and show his skills to the fans, and that’s really what this fight with Murray is about.”
Breaking down Golovkin-Murray
Golovkin vs. Murray happens Saturday, Feb. 21 at 5:45 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
Yet a steady diet of fighters such as Murray, who does not have a big name globally despite his only loss coming in Argentina against then-lineal middleweight champ Sergio Martinez on a controversial decision in 2013 ? he even knocked Martinez down ? has not helped Golovkin’s pound-for-pound case.
“People are expecting a knockout every time he steps in the ring, and with his personality outside the ring, where people actually like him and like to support him, and realize he will fight anyone,” Loeffler says.
“I would be embarrassed honestly if, let’s say there was another middleweight, Sergio Martinez or whoever, and they were the champion, and were calling out Gennady. If Gennady said, ‘Nah, I don’t want to fight that guy,’ I would be really embarrassed. Or if there were some conditions we put on, like financial conditions, that would prevent the fight from happening. We would do everything we could to make a fight.
“In fact, when we were talking about the (former middleweight champion Julio Cesar) Chavez (Jr.) fight, we made a number of concessions to get that fight made. Unfortunately Top Rank couldn’t deliver Chavez on their end.”
One need look no further than Golovkin’s streak to understand why many of the top fighters in he weight class want nothing to do with the baby-faced but heavy-handed slugger from Kazakhstan, who now resides in Los Angeles. He recently moved his wife and 5-year-old son here to be with him.
Golovkin’s greatest hits
Gennady Golovkin vs. Martin Murray happens Saturday, Feb. 21 at 5:45 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
“It’s a big difference from his style, where he knocks people out as opposed to someone who just outboxes and outpoints his opponents,” Loeffler says. “Fighters say, ‘well if I lose to someone on points, it doesn’t take a big physical toll on me.’ “
Golovkin, a very good technical boxer as well as a brutal puncher, says knockouts are important because it’s what fans want to see. But, he says, “I wait for the right moment for my instinct (to kick in). My killer instinct. … Nobody wants to see moving and dancing.”
Murray has no illusions about what he’s up against.
“I don’t see any weakness in Golovkin to be honest,” he told ESPN. “With Martinez and (former middleweight champ Felix) Sturm, they had both been beaten so we were able to see chinks in their armor and study them before I fought them.
“With Golovkin, he has never been beaten or knocked down and he has not shown any chinks in his armor yet. He’s younger and fresher than Sturm and Martinez were when I fought them as well.”
Golovkin’s work ethic, like his punching power, is becoming legendary, and Loeffler says if he fights four times in 2015, which Golovkin says he wants to do, he will spend about eight months in training camp at Big Bear, Calif.
Golovkin says that he feels as good or better at 32 than he did a decade ago, when he was still an amateur.
“I feel great,” he told USA TODAY Sports by phone. “My speed is good, my power is good, I have more experience, I feel better.”
Yet, he continues to move forward without getting the big fights he so desires. He has called out Canelo Alvarez as well as Miguel Cotto, who would be the mandatory WBC challenger for Golovkin if he beats Murray.
“Yes, absolutely, I want big fights. Unification fights. I want to fight Miguel,” Golovkin says. “He’s big champion.”
Loeffler dreams of a Golovkin-Cotto matchup at Madison Square Garden, where both fighters are immensely popular.
“When you talk about ticket sales, where Cotto’s proven to sell out the Garden on a number of occasions, and you bring in Gennady’s fans to that, that would be one of the biggest events in the Garden’s history,” Loeffler says.
Golovkin says he’d even consider fighting on the undercard of a Mayweather-Pacquiao megafight at the MGM Grand on May 2 if it happens. Mayweather is one of many top names on his desired, but likely unattainable, list of opponents.
“Yes, why not? Because everybody will watch this fight,” he says. “It’s biggest day for everybody, boxing fans, TV, so why not?”
