You’ll have to excuse Gennady Golovkin if his English is a little raw. It is the fourth language the native of Kazakhstan is trying to master. He knows enough to make friends and fans.
“I like New York City,” said Golovkin, who also speaks Kazakh, Russian and German. “It’s like my country; nice people. I’m happy here.”
Golovkin (24-0, 21 KOs) will let his gloves do the talking tomorrow at the Garden Theater, where he defends his WBA/IBO middleweight title against Gabriel Rosado (21-5, 13 KO) of Philadelphia. It’s part of a triple-header to be televised by HBO.
Rocky Martinez (26-1-1, 16 KOs) of Puerto Rico defends his WBO super featherweight title against Juan Carlos Burgos (30-1, 20 KOs) of Mexico in the opening televised bout, while Orlando Salido (39-11-2, 27 KOs) of Mexico defends his WBO featherweight title against Mikey Garcia (30-0, 26 KOs) of Oxnard, Calif., in the main event.
This will be Golovkin’s second fight in the U.S. after stopping Grzegorz Proksa of Poland in the fifth-round of a fight at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., last September.
Golovkin was so impressive it was difficult to find another opponent to test his speed and punching power. Rosado, a super welterweight, accepted the challenge, hoping to make name for himself with a win.
“I’m extremely confident that I’ll be victorious,” Rosado said. “I know this guy has the will to win, and so do I. But at the end of the day I think this fight is determined by who is the smarter guy and who can make the better adjustments. I’m confident that I will.”
Golovkin said he expects a “difficult” fight, but plans on this being a breakout year for his career. He is plotting at least four bouts, maybe five, taking on top challengers from 154 pounds to 168.
“If he can’t get the biggest names in the ring, then he wants to stay active similar to what Nonito Donaire did last year,” said Tom Loeffler, whose K2 Promotions backs Golovkin. “The credibility will keep building. The exposure on HBO will open up a lot of doors.”