Gennady "GGG" Golovkin caused a stir in a TMZ interview in which he reiterated that his dream fight is against pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., and that he is "100 percent" sure he would beat "Money" Mayweather if the fight were made.
Golovkin, undefeated and owner of a 20-fight knockout streak, is desperately seeking out a big name to solidify himself as a boxing superstar. He badly wants to fight Miguel Cotto, who holds the WBC title, but he is preoccupied making a deal with another superstar, Canelo Alvarez.
Mayweather is planning to fight in September, but his last three fights have been at welterweight. Golovkin is the WBA and IBO middleweight champion, and because of his power, Mayweather fighting him even at 154 pounds (where Mayweather also has the WBC title) is unlikely. Mayweather's team did respond to Golovkin's comments to TMZ however.
"Everyone in boxing wants to fight Floyd," a Mayweather representative said. "It's the biggest payday they could possibly have. Golovkin has never fought a top opponent in his whole career. We're surprised you would even have him on your show to be honest."
One name that is willing to fight Golovkin is Erislandy Lara, the IBF junior middleweight champion. He successfully defended his title on Friday in a lopsided win over Delvin Rodriguez, and immediately called out Golovkin, Mayweather and Cotto. He said he would even fight Golovkin at middleweight. Lara doesn't have the superstar cache of Mayweather or Cotto, but he does have an above-average profile thanks to his fight vs. Alvarez, and a renowned action fight against Alfredo Angulo.
Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler isn't sure how serious Lara was though, because there's been radio silence since the call-out.
"No I haven't heard from his [Lara's] camp," Loeffler said. "We're still trying to figure out what's the next date and who is the next opponent for Gennady. Lara had his win on Friday but we're just going through to see who's the best opponent for Gennady at this point."
It's more likely that Golovkin will face the winner of David Lemieux vs. Hassan N'Dam, which will happen June 20 with the IBF middleweight title on the line. Lemieux, like Golovkin, is a knockout artist whose stature is growing. He will be favored against N'Dam, and the fight is happening in Montreal, where he is from. Loeffler said Golovkin's focus remains on unifying the middleweight division, so fighting Lemiuex makes more sense than taking on Lara.
"Gennady's focus is to unify the titles. That would be his top priority at this point to fight another champion at the middleweight division."
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