Upcoming Fight
Gennady Golovkin vs. Billy Joe Saunders
June 17, 2017
Madisson Square Garden, New York
Facts about Golovkin:
1. Golovkin was born 33 years ago to a Russian father (coal miner) and a Korean mother (lab assistant) in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
2. His two elder brothers Vadim and Sergey were both killed in action whilst serving in the Russian army before he reached his teens.
3. GGG also has a twin brother Max who was a top grade amateur and now assists with his training camp and corner on fight night.
4. He began boxing aged 10 and, as an amateur, he won world titles at junior and senior level and reached the middleweight final at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
5. He turned pro with German outfit Universum in 2006 but, after 18 wins, left them acrimoniously in January 2010 as he felt they were favouring fellow middleweights Felix Sturm and Sebastian Zbik.
6. After a tedious contractual dispute he signed with the Klitschko brothers K2 Promotions, fronted by Californian financier Tom Loeffler in early 2012.
7. Since late 2011, he has been coached by Abel Sanchez in a mountain top gym in Big Bear, California.
Abel Sanchez: "Gennady has a streak going of 21 knockouts for a lot of different reasons, he was blessed with God given talent but works very hard on balance, distance and technique."
8. From 2006 to 2014, he resided in Stuttgart, Germany but late last year moved the family home to Los Angeles to accommodate his training regime.
9. Triple G speaks four languages; Kazakh, Russian, German and some English.
10. After starring in Germany, Denmark, Panama, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine in his formative pro years, 'Battleship Golovkin' made his US debut in September 2012, stopping Grzegorz Proksa (RSC5) in New York. He has featured extensively on the HBO network ever since.
11. In 350 amateur fights (just five losses) and 32 pro fights, he has never been dropped or stopped.
12. 29 of Golovkin's 32 pro victims fell early - including the last 19 - giving him the highest kayo percentage (90.63) of all present title holders, and the highest in the history of the 160lb division.
13. His 14 fights for versions of the WBA title have lasted just 67 rounds combined, an average of less than 4.8 rounds a fight.