Gennady Golovkin prepares for Saturday fight with eye on Canelo Alvarez rematch
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. — Gennady Golovkin walked into a private gym here last week and showed off a nasty jab.
He would be heading to New York in a matter of days for his boxing match against Sergey Derevyanchenko for the IBF and IBO middleweight championship belts. But during an interview with Paste BN Sports, Golovkin turned his attention to another opponent — Canelo Alvarez.
“Horrible for boxing’’ is what Golovkin said of Alvarez at a recent news conference. And the verbal jabbing continued when Paste BN Sports asked Golovkin about a possible third fight against Alvarez, who scuttled a trilogy bout earlier this year.
“Canelo is the one who keeps running away, who keeps running away from the fight,’’ Golovkin said before referring to Alvarez's testing positive for a banned substance in 2018 and then taking aim at Alvarez’s handlers. “To be honest, all of the dirt that is connected to the team, I don’t even want to touch it.’’
By Saturday night, Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) presumably will have shifted his focus back to Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) in time for their fight at Madison Square Garden (live stream on DAZN starting at 7 p.m. ET). But it’s clear he is determined to get another shot at Alvarez.
The two men fought to a draw in 2017, and Alvarez won the rematch by majority decision in 2018 while handing Golovkin the first defeat of his career. There was talk of a possible third fight in September before Alvarez announced he would be fighting Sergey Kovalev on Nov. 2 at the 175-pound light heavyweight division.
“I think it will eventually happen,’’ Golovkin said of a third fight with Alvarez. "I see this fight happening. I’m just not sure when it will happen.”
Therein lies a problem for Golovkin, who at 37 is eight years older than Alvarez, 29.
Since losing to Alvarez in 2018, he has made changes in an attempt to extend his career and remain in top form as long as possible.
For example, last week Golovkin arrived at the gym carrying a half gallon of water. He said he drinks 2 gallons of water every day, at the direction of his full-time nutritionist and chef, James Lockwood.
“I really nerd out in the kitchen,’’ said Lockwood, who has also worked with elite UFC fighters such as Daniel Cormier and Dustin Poirier. “I get, like, goose bumps talking about like beets and what they do for your body and garlic and that kind of thing.’’
And what was life like before beets, garlic and other healthy offerings?
“You know, if you like to eat burritos, keep eating burritos,’’ said Golovkin, who apparently enjoyed many burritos during previous training camps. “We changed things that needed to be changed, and I can tell you now that I feel much stronger and I feel healthy and this is what I like about this.’’
Lockwood confirmed Golovkin’s camp is now a burrito-free zone.
“October 6th we can talk burritos, hamburgers and things of that nature,’’ he said, referring to the day after Golovkin’s fight with Derevyanchenko.
Meanwhile, Golovkin was completing his first full training camp with trainer Johnathon Banks.
While preparing for his last fight, Golovkin parted ways with his longtime trainer Abel Sanchez and hired Banks — merely three weeks before he fought Steve Rolls. Golovkin knocked out Rolls in the fourth round.
“It’s not about me being the right guy,’’ said Banks, a former boxer who worked under Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, who died in 2012. “It’s just about me being the guy that he needs or wants at this particular time.
“(Golovkin) said, ‘I want something different, I want new ideas, I have new ideas and I want my ideas to be heard.’ And I’m like, 'Hey, that all? Come on, man, let’s go.’ ”
Banks said he and Golovkin have worked on a variety of things, including increasing the boxer’s in-ring activity.
“His movement and rhythm, I’m loving it,’’ Banks said. “Before, he would just walk across the ring. Now he’s starting to move, move with a different rhythm, trying to (use) his defense a lot more.’’
But since they began working together, Banks said, they have never discussed Alvarez and a possible third fight.
“Everybody understands the elephant in the room,’’ Banks said. “Everybody gets that. But as far as me and G, when we talk boxing, when we talk strategy, nah, Canelo’s name don’t come up because he’s not on the agenda.
“But when he’s on the agenda, we’ll be talking a whole lot about him.’’