Gennady "GGG" Golovkin is considered a bad man in the sport of boxing. He's the best knockout attraction going, having stopped 19 straight opponents, and he is currently the undefeated WBA and IBO middleweight champion of the world. Despite the lofty stature, he is not quite a household name yet and finds it difficult to line up fights with the sport's biggest stars.
One man fans are craving to see Golovkin fight is super middleweight Andre Ward, widely considered the no. 2 fighter in the world pound-for-pound. Golovkin's team has said Ward is ducking their fighter, but Ward, who will fight in June for the first time since late 2013, said it's the other way around.
"I don't understand how the best boxers in the world can keep making excuses for not fighting me," Ward said.
"Carl Froch does not want to fight me, it has been impossible to get [Gennady] Golovkin and [Julio Cesar] Chavez in the ring. I'm ready, I would fight them all, but I don't need to go out and start shouting about fights with them."
Golovkin is set to fight little-known Willie Monroe Jr. on May 16 for his second bout of 2015. Part of his hesitance to face Ward, aside from disagreements about which is the A-side, is that Golovkin wants to clear out the 160-pound division. That means taking the lineal WBC belt off of Miguel Cotto, although Cotto has not shown a hint of interest in that matchup.
If Golovkin were to face Ward, there are several disadvantages he'd have to overcome. Ward is a world champion at a division eight pounds higher than where Golovkin campaigns. Golovkin is a powerful puncher at 160 pounds, but isn't build as a large middleweight; in fact, he's said he is very capable of cutting to 154 pounds for fights vs. Canelo Alvarez or Floyd Mayweather Jr. if need be.
He also hasn't faced elite competition yet, so jumping up a weight class against the second-best fighter in the world would be daunting. If Cotto continues to avoid him though, he may not have much of a choice. If he does decide on that route, Ward says he'll be waiting.
"It has been a long and hard road to get here and the last few years have been difficult. I'm ready now to fight on a regular basis and that means I'm open to talks with Froch, Golovkin and Chavez and any other top boxers; I'm here, it is not hard to find me."
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