Gennadiy Golovkin 1-on-1 with Kevin Iole
Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole interviews unified middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin ahead of his Sept. 17 trilogy fight versus Canelo Alvarez.
Video Transcript
[CHEERING]
KEVIN IOLE: Hey, folks, I am Kevin Iole. Welcome to Yahoo Sports. And, boy, it's been four years, but we are in for a treat in September. Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will do it yet again. They had two fantastic fights in 2017 and 2018, this time on September 17th in Las Vegas for the undisputed Middleweight-- Super Middleweight Championship, I said. Joining me right now is Gennady Golovkin. Gennady, has it been a tough wait, four years?
GENNADY GOLOVKIN: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER; It was tough, not the wait itself, but those years, the pandemic, of course, took a toll on all of us.
KEVIN IOLE: All right, Gennady, Canelo did an interview-- I believe it was yesterday, but recently-- with Ak and Barak on DAZN. And he was asked by them if you ever hurt him in the two fights that you had. You fought 24 rounds, and he said never was hurt. Are you able to win a fight against Canelo Alvarez if you cannot hurt him, given how much power is important to your game?
INTERPRETER; I'm not going to comment on what he says. But his last fight loss shows that it is not required to knock him out, to deliver a knockout punch in order to win a fight against him. It's more about getting on the right track, to use the right strategy in order to get the victory. That's how I see it.
KEVIN IOLE: Gennady, both of the first two fights were outstanding fights. And I think a lot of people thought you won the first fight for sure. What was the biggest change he made from the second-- first fight to the second fight that maybe improved his performance?
GENNADY GOLOVKIN: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER; it's hard for me to explain that in a few words. But analyzing the approach for the third flight, I would say that it certainly will change because the weight category would be different, time passed, we're talking about four years. And, of course, will do best in the fight. We will stick to our game plan. And I hope that it would allow us to get the victory.
KEVIN IOLE: When you look at your game plan for fight two, do you feel that was sufficient to win? Or do you feel like you have to significantly change it in order to win fight three?
INTERPRETER; Of course, adjustments need to be made. We need to expand our arsenal. And I'm working with my coach on that. And if you remember, during the second, fight there was a, like, almost descending knockdown of Canelo. And I believe that we need to work on getting advantage of those opportunities, to monetize that.
KEVIN IOLE: He lost a fight to Dmitry Bivol in May in a bid for the Light Heavyweight Championship. And I'm curious, A, if you saw the fight. And did you see anything that Dmitry did that maybe you could add to your game to help you in your fight with him?
INTERPRETER: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
GENNADY GOLOVKIN: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER; I have not seen the entire fight, just the highlights. And, probably, I will need to do that. But on the other hand, Canelo certainly learned from his mistakes. And he is not the kind of a fighter who will make the same mistake twice. But at the same time, I believe that, yeah, it needs to be analyzed.
KEVIN IOLE: Gennady, I know you said the fight's not personal, it's just a sporting event. Canelo has been-- he's used some vulgar words to describe you. He has not been too happy with you. And I think a lot of it stems from his positive drug test and your criticism about that. Looking back on what happened, do you stand by what you said after he tested positive for clenbuterol? And do you feel like that was the right thing for you to do at the time?
GENNADY GOLOVKIN: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER; I stand by my words, and I take full responsibility for everything I said. But we are talking about, not some allegations, we're talking about true facts. He's the one who tested positive. And he's trying to come up with some excuses. He's trying to blame other people. That behavior is, I would say, just like a clownish behavior. And I would say that, maybe, the fact that they're saying, well, once, or twice, or three times was tested positive, it does not count. It's still not too many times. Maybe because I'm not a member of the pajama club, that's why they are upset with me.
KEVIN IOLE: OK. Two last question, Gennady. What a night. Do you feel like you're getting support from your promoter, Eddie Hearn, and from DAZN, which is your network. It seems like it's Canelo, Canelo, Canelo, right? You're a part of this show, too. You were a part of the two huge gates at T-Mobile Arena in the first two fights, the two big pay-per-view shows. Do you feel like you're getting the support from your promoter and from your network that you deserve?
GENNADY GOLOVKIN: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER; Kevin, thank you very much for this question. It is commendable, and it just shows that you're a top-level journalist who analyzes the reality and makes the right conclusions, indeed so. But on the other hand, it doesn't bother me much. I would say, I would use the words that one prominent athlete said, you just don't know anything about boxing. [SIGHS] That's what I believe about them. And I hope that an opportunity will come our way to work together to me help them to get a better understanding. We'll find a common ground. And that will bring them to a new level of understanding of this sport.
KEVIN IOLE: Well let's wrap it with this, Gennady. On September 17th, you're gonna meet Canelo for the third time. Your tagline for so long in your career was, the big drama show. Are we gonna have a big drama show on September 17th at T-Mobile Arena?
GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Right, big drama show come back.
[LAUGHTER]
KEVIN IOLE: All righty. Gennady Golovkin, thank you, best of luck to you IN your pay per view fight against Canelo Alvarez. Appreciate your time--
GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Thank you so much.
KEVIN IOLE: --my friend.
GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Thank you.
