By Chris Cella
When WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (26-0, 23 KO) and former world title challenger Matthew “Mack The Knife” Macklin (29-4, 20 KO) meet inside the ring at the Foxwoods Resort Casino June 29, there will be no shortage of excitement for the thousands of fans in attendance.
Both fighters on their own produce fireworks each time the step between the ropes, and when they go to battle for the belt it is highly unlikely the fight will go the scheduled 12-round distance.
GGG’s record speaks for itself…23 KO’s in 26 wins; he hasn’t gone the distance since 2008, and more so than simply “knock” his opponents out, he punishes them round after round delivering damage. There are bad intentions in every punch he throws, and since winning the belt in 2010 he hasn’t shown any signs that he plans on relinquishing it anytime soon.
Matthew Macklin has come close to earning the world championship hardware in recent fights, but fell short; not due to him not fighting his heart out, but he simply got outworked by the better the fighter that night.
At 31-years-old he is a veteran of the sport that has fought wars within the ring, and win or lose has never failed to come forward and bring the fight to his opponent.
In his last loss against middleweight king Sergio Martinez, he has his opportunities and nearly closed the door on the Argentinian champion, who was able to survive being sent to the canvas in the 7th round and go on to stop Macklin in the 11th.
While he had to stalk Martinez and chase him around the ring through the fight, he will have no problem finding GGG June 29, who will undoubtedly be settled in front of the Irish boxer ready for war.
“I am very excited about this fight, because Golovkin is there to be hit,” said Macklin. “With someone like Sergio Martinez, because of his style and movement, it can be very hard to land cleanly on him and get your combinations off, and that I frustrating. With Golovkin, obviously he is very dangerous, but he is right there in front of you. Everyone talks about his power, and believe me, I am well aware of it, but just like I am going to have to deal with his, he is going to have to deal with mine.”
Both fighters have been through their own wars, and have proven they have the chins to stand there and bang. If, and when this fight becomes a street fight inside a phone booth, it is going to come down to which warrior can deliver the more damaging blows and who wants it more. Through his 26-bout career GGG has yet to come out on the losing end, and he has no doubt he will emerge with his belt in hand against Macklin.
“We respect Macklin, but I don’t believe that the strengths that he has shown in the past against previous opponents will have any effect on me,” said Golovkin. “I expect him to be a complete different fighter with a completely different game plan against me. Whatever he brings though, we will be more than ready to come away successful, and as always I plan on putting on a very strong, and entertaining performance on June 29.”
In a stacked division, this fight has big implications on what lies ahead for each fighter. For GGG, he would love to go on and battle Martinez or Geale to become the true number one unified middleweight champion of the world, while for Macklin it is about lining himself up for another title contention fight.
The war will be shown live on HBO June 29 beginning at 9:45 p.m.
