Hot on the heels of his exhilarating TKO win at Madison Square Garden over Daniel Geale (30-3-16KO), Gennady Golovkin (30-0-27KO) is back in the saddle promoting his next fight and next step up the ladder. The duel is aptly titled “Mexican Style” as a nod only to Golovkin’s opponent, but also a comment Golovkin made immediately after beating Geale.
Last Wednesday, August 27th on Los Angeles’ colorful and historic Olvera street – the pulse of all things authentically Mexican in Downtown LA – Golovkin and Rubio kicked off the Los Angeles area promotion of their “Mexican Style” match up set for Saturday, October 18th at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
To hear the story related by Golovkin’s manager Tom Loeffler of K2, it was just icing on the cake that Golovkin’s new opponent, the hearty and exceptionally hard hitting Mexican champion, Marco Antonio Rubio (59-6-1, 51KO) fell into place less than a month after Golovkin’s demolition of Geale. “The phrase for this fight, ‘Mexican Style’ really was born from Gennady’s post fight interview and his comments after he knocked out Daniel Geale,” said Loeffler. “He said ‘I’m not a boxer I’m a fighter. I fight Mexican Style’…so it was just a natural name especially with Marco accepting the challenge. ”
Possibly due to the genteel elegance of the venue, or the habit of both champions to let their fists do the talking in the ring versus verbal repartee and threats, the mood at the press conference was more subdued than salacious. Both trainers, Abel Sanchez and Rubio’s trainer Robert Garcia, indicated past friendship and current professional respect for one another. Both Golovkin and Rubio said all of the right things without rancor when given their respective opportunities in front of the microphone.
Only Rubio’s promoter Sampson Lewkowicz dared to actively spit some fire on Golovkin in front of the assembled press, putting the moment in stark relief to the rest of the proceedings.
“Let’s dance the last tango,” Lewkowicz said. “I want to see how you dance the last tango with Rubio because he is coming to fight… many fighters…absolutely favored…come up to be the underdog by the end of the night. Good luck to you.”
However, as often happens after formalities are over, things began to get a little interesting in the Rubio camp once the big cameras were off. As the promotional staff was dutifully folding up posters and packing up lights, Garcia in a far corner of the restaurant surrounded by supporters felt ready to reveal harsher assessments of the Golovkin mystique.
“We’ve watched all of his fights,” Garcia said. “A fighter that has skills and is not scared…they come out with a good game plan they can beat him. My dad’s a strong believer that Cotto beats triple G… there are things that my dad and I have watched together …that he has explained to me that make a lot of sense and make me believe that Cotto can beat GGG. Why can’t we do it if we come up with a good game plan?
“With a good game plan, I think it is possible. He’s beatable…. it’s something that we’ve seen … and hopefully Rubio will.”
When pressed for specific details, Garcia was understandably not forthcoming about exactly what he and his father had seen as proof of Golovkin’s Achilles’ heel. The most Garcia would reveal was Rubio’s need to negate Golovkin’s power and that the key to achieving this, Achilles’ heel or no Achilles’ heel, would be by putting Rubio through a training camp that would be pure hell – which Garcia and his team are more than prepped to deliver.
“We’ve got to be in great shape,” Garcia said. “We’ve got to train very hard. He’s got to work through hell because the fight is not easy. He’s going to go through hell when he is inside the ring with GGG so he’s got to be…prepared for it already because it can’t be a surprise for him. He’s got to go through hell in the gym to beat someone like GGG.”
As for team Golovkin, while they were a little more transparent about what they viewed as the significant advantages for Rubio in battling Gennady, once again it came down to power and the negation of power.
“Power. He has more knockouts…almost twice as many knockouts as we have fights… so we know he can hit,” Sanchez said. “And the other thing… he’s got a very accomplished coach – an ex-world champion in Robert…. Marco’s experience and Robert’s astute knowledge of the boxing game…. (they are) a big plus.
“There’s not going to be a track meet. It’s going to be two guys… punch for punch… exchanging with each other like it used to be in the past.
“Ten fifteen years ago you never saw a clinch in a fight… you seldom saw a referee… Now it seems like there’s ten clinches in a round… it messes up the opportunity for something dramatic to happen… It’s going to be Mexican style war.
“I’m not going to say it’s going to be a war where neither guy has defense, but it will be a war where both guys are trying to give the public a great show…. Either way Marco lands his punch, it’s goodnight for Golovkin. Golovkin lands his punch, goodnight for Marco.”
“I’m at the top…the maximum of my career,” Rubio said. “In the media and the boxing world, Golovkin is the favorite… I can punch, I can take a punch, and that’s what I’m coming to do… The only prediction I can give you is it’s going to be a war. I’m coming to win, I’m coming to fight… It’s going to be a war.”
“I know Mexican style,” Golovkin added. “Power… close distance. And big battle for fans. I promise an amazing show, an amazing fight. I am ready…Marco is ready too.”
And from the buzz outside of Olvera street’s El Paseo Inn and beyond, it would appear that the fans are ready too.
