Gennady Golovkin Has the Focus for Whatever Is Next in Pursuit of Superstardom

Gennady Golovkin might or might not be the monster that hides under your bed.

Sure, we’re exaggerating (we think, anyway), but GGG has become a patient stalker both inside and outside of the ring over the past several years as he’s grown from virtual unknown to one of the biggest stars in the sport.

Big fights have eluded him, but somehow the motivation to perform at a high level remains the same no matter who stands in front of him or what obstacles cross his path. He’s a remarkably consistent and focused individual.

It's patience, but of the scary sort.

The WBA, IBF and interim WBC middleweight champion defends his treasure trove of gold belts Saturday night against Dominic Wade at the Forum in Inglewood, California, on HBO in a fight that has sold well but is viewed as pro forma by most boxing fans.

Wade is an unbeaten young fighter (18-0) and a solid prospect by most accounts, but he lacks the name recognition or perceived difficulty that fans demand of fighters operating in GGG’s rarefied air.

Still, the approach remains the same.

“I understand it’s very important, every fight with an opponent,” Golovkin said Thursday on a media conference call. “I understand my motivation is my goal for all the belts in the middleweight division.”

“I can’t talk before the fight, just after I beat him [Wade]. He’s undefeated and probably will have a lot of time for a great performance. I hope he is ready 100 percent to fight.”

Wade could walk through the ropes at the Forum 150 or 200 percent ready, and it probably won’t make a heck of a lot of difference. Boxing is an expectations game in many ways, and the expectation is that the 26-year-old will be the 22nd man in a row to see his night end well short of the final round against GGG.

Golovkin extended his streak of consecutive knockouts to 21 with an eighth-round bludgeoning of David Lemieux in an October fight that added the IBF title he’ll defend against Wade to his collection.

Tureano Johnson, a once-beaten middleweight contender, was expected to present his next challenge but was forced to withdraw from consideration with a shoulder injury.

That left Wade in the right place at the right time (or wrong place at the wrong time) to become the IBF’s new mandatory challenger, forcing Golovkin to either defend the title or vacate it.

The latter was never a real option, what with no more attractive fights on the table and the Kazakh’s well-documented goal of holding all four 160-pound titles.

“Fortunately for Gennady, he is after the unification of all the belts. So with that motivation alone it really doesn’t matter who’s on the other side,” said Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez. “If he doesn’t fight this fight he’s going to lose that middleweight belt, the IBF.

“To him, Dominic Wade represents the IBF belt. So it’s motivation enough for him.”

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Golovkin is halfway to his goal (three-fourths if you count his interim WBC title), as just two middleweight titles currently sit outside his orbit.

The full WBC Middleweight Championship (GGG won the interim belt by stopping Marco Antonio Rubio in 2014 and is the mandatory challenger) is held by Canelo Alvarez.

Canelo defends that title May 7 in Las Vegas on HBO pay-per-view against former 140-pound titlist Amir Khan in a fight that came out of the blue and still just doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense, at least from a matchup standpoint.

The WBO title sits across the pond on the waist of Billy Joe Saunders, who won it from Andy Lee in a dreadful fight and then briefly flirted (at least in public) with the notion of fighting GGG before seeing the error of his ways.

He instead signed on for a much easier defense against Max Bursak, which has since been postponed due to an injury suffered by the champion. To say boxing fans aren’t devastated about missing out on Saunders vs. Bursak would be an understatement.

Saunders’ injury hasn’t stopped Team Golovkin from targeting him, should a much anticipated clash with Canelo not materialize by the end of the year. That fight still remains a possibility, but the more you hear of it, the more you get the notion that it might be further off than we all hope.

Plan B?

“First priority is obviously Dominic Wade,” said Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler. “The second priority is to get the mandatory against either Canelo or Amir Khan.

“Third priority would be to try to unify with the WBO champion, Billy Joe Saunders.”

Loeffler said that Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has contacted him about a potential matchup between his unified middleweight champion and newly crowned WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez.

Ramirez impressively outboxed veteran titlist Arthur Abraham to win his first world championship on the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley undercard on April 9, and he presents a potentially intriguing matchup (because of his size and range) for GGG.

“That [Ramirez] would certainly be a fight down the road that could make a lot of sense for Gennady,” Loeffler said while praising the Mexican’s title-winning domination of Abraham.

Intriguing fights, all, should Golovkin get by Wade Saturday night as expected.

One thing you can count on: No matter who stands across the ring from GGG, his motivation will remain the same, and that’s a scary thought for any opponent.

All quotes were obtained firsthand.