Gennady Golovkin believes he is nearing his retirement as his trilogy with Canelo Alvarez draws ever-closer.
The Kazakh star will do battle with long-term rival Alvarez for the third time on September 15 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Golovkin has already fought Alvarez twice with the first fight ending in a controversial draw, before he came up short in a majority decision defeat in their rematch.
Golovkin is now 40-years-old and has completed most of his ambitions in the sport having only been defeated once by Alvarez. And he has admitted that he has no personal ill-feeling to Alvarez who he sparred before they became rivals. “I’m going to retire soon anyway," Golovkin told The Sun. With his help or without his help.
"Let’s face it, I’m 40 years old and nearing my retirement. “I don’t feel any hatred towards him. To me, he’s just an athlete, just another human being. Just a boxer. I guess that’s how he as a human being decided to behave and decided to think of himself, love himself and position himself.
“We had a normal relationship. But he then felt too much of himself. He’s now a big star so the consequences of that was probably a side effect of him shooting to fame. “I don’t feel like he is any different because I honestly don’t think about him. Too much attention is being placed on him, but he’s not bothering me at all."
Golovkin showed his class when he stopped Ryota Murata last time out to become unified middleweight champion and continue his path. However he will have a tremendous shot at becoming undisputed king at 168lb where Alvarez currently holds all of the titles after defeating Caleb Plant last year.
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Alvarez was seen as lucky by the majority of people in the sport having held Golovkin to a controversial draw back in September 2017, where many believe Golovkin won the clash. A similar outrage gripped the second outing a year later, with many believing Golovkin deserved the nod despite Alvarez's victory.
Several verbal barbs have been exchanged since the pair last met, but now a huge third meeting will likely draw in a significant interest due to the new nature of the rivalry. Alvarez believes the rival is personal and has vowed to end it in the ring. "It's personal for me," Alvarez said when asked about their rivalry by the media.
"And this is the way I am. I don't pretend to be another person or say things in media or in other places and come here and pretend I didn't' say anything or I don't want to say anything. "No. It's personal for me because he talked a lot of things. That's why it's personal. And I just can't wait to be in that ring. He's two different people. He pretends to be a nice guy but he's not, he's an a**hole. That's what he is."
