Golovkin says he wants to headline Staples Center

Golovkin says he wants to headline Staples Center

Fight fans have been raving about Gennady Golovkin for the better part of this year, if not longer, but to the casual fan, the name has become increasingly prominent over the past three weeks.

Ever since knocking out Marco Antonio Rubio earlier this month, Golovkin is the talk of the boxing world. Golovkin has won over the casual fans after seen the legions of hardcore fans follow him over the past three years.

Golovkin is becoming a household name in the sport, most people simply know him by his nickname, Triple G. Golovkin has taken over the HBO airwaves and appeared on Tuesday’s episode of Jim Lampley’s The Fight Game. On Oct. 18, Golovkin destroyed Rubio in a bout that was watched by 1.3 million viewers, making the fight the second most watched premium cable boxing event of the year. Golovkin scored his 18th straight stoppage and 12th defense of his WBA/IBO middleweight world titles in front of a standing room only crowd of 9,323 at the StubHub! Center in Carson, California.

Lampley interviewed Golovkin, who appeared via video from Stuttgart, Germany, about his recent rash of defenses and his upcoming bout against Martin Murray in Monte Carlo on Feb. 21. During the interview, Golovkin told Lampley of his desrie to fight again in California. Los Angeles, to be exact.

Golovkin made his west coast debut in Carson, Ca., roughly 15 miles from the City of Angels. Golovkin sold the StubHub! Center out. So much so that special standing room only tickets were sold in order to fit a record 9,300 plus. Golovkin hopes to fight again at the Staples Center or the newly renovated Forum in Inglewood. Golovkin was rumored to headline the Forum in July against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

In the 80s and late 90s, the Forum was a staple for big-name fights and attractions in Southern California. Once the Staples Center was built in 1999, the names and fights slowly started shifting over, as did the Los Angeles Lakers. But the big-name fights slowly started to decline over the past 15 years, with the most notable names headlining cards at the Staples Center, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Lennox Lewis, Saul Alvarez, Chavez and Victor Ortiz.

But California needs to attract another big name to make a staple, no pun intended, in the fight scene. Golovkin is the perfect candidate.

Floyd Mayweather is a mainstay at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Golovkin has previously been a semi-mainstay in Monte Carlo and most recently in New York. But Golovkin can do what no other boxer has done, make California his territory.

His fighting style caters to the legions of Mexican fight fans in the greater Los Angeles area. Golovkin himself knows this. He’s dubbed himself as a “Mexican Style” fighter. In his last fight, he wore a Los Angeles Dodgers logo stitched on his trunks. That gesture alone won over many of the Mexican fight fans. Golovkin knows exactly how to market himself. He’s loves to fight.

He makes for exciting television, even if his fights last two-to-three rounds. The buzz and hype surrounding the Golovkin name is the main event attraction. Fight fans flock to arenas or around their televisions to see how and when Golovkin will dismantle his opponent.

Golovkin needs another fight in Los Angeles. A fight at the Forum in mid 2015 can set up a potential clash with the winner of the rumored bout between Alvarez and Miguel Cotto next May. A fight with either of those two men at the Staples Center on Mexican Independence Day weekend would be the most anticipated bout in California since De La Hoya/Mosley.

– Jose Quintero/@JoseSwift8755

US Editor for www.BehindTheGloves.com