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Promoter DiBella Coins “New Boxing Verb–‘To Ruiz”’…Can ROLLS Render GGG An AJ?

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Promoter DiBella Coins “New Boxing Verb–‘To Ruiz”’…Can ROLLS Render GGG An AJ?

You always want to respect the possibility that on any given night, a good guy can fight great, and beat a great guy. And that construct should be even more front and center in your mind, should it not, as you look ahead to Saturday night, when Steve Rolls seeks to pull an Andy Ruiz, and have Gennadiy Golovkin play the role of Anthony Joshua at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, in the big room.

It is fight week, and one with a bit more buzz injected into it, after we all saw that Theater of the Unexpected special unfold on Saturday.

Rolls, a Canadian, is promoted by the NY all-star deal-maker Lou DiBella.

Looie touched based with NYFights Monday, and and I asked: does that Ruiz win give Rolls a bit of a pop, mentally?

“New boxing verb ‘to Ruiz:’ as in “Steve Rolls knows that he is a legit middleweight contender,” DiBella told me, “and believes he can Ruiz GGG!”

Here is a release which went out Monday, to help hype the tango and card, which screens on DAZN:

NEW YORK (June 3, 2019) – Undefeated top-10 contender and Toronto native Steve Rolls is inspired by his hometown Raptors run to the NBA Championship Finals.  Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin, the pound-for-pound superstar attraction who successfully defended his middleweight titles a record 20 consecutive times — 18 by knockout – has no intention of overlooking Rolls like Anthony Joshua may have before he was knocked out by Andy Ruiiz Jr.on Saturday.  Golovkin and Rolls will go mano a mano in a 12-round rumble which will be contested at a maximum weight of 164 lbs. and streamed live on DAZN, this Saturday, June 8, from the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden.

 

On Sunday, Golovkin and Rolls opened fight week with a Times Square photo shoot that quickly attracted a large crowd of fans.  

          “My motivation for training for Steve Rolls is the same as for any fight.  To me, every fight I have is my biggest test.  I know Rolls can be dangerous because earlier in my career, I used to be Steve Rolls.  I was an unknown challenger.  It is the unknown fighters who can end up being the most dangerous.  Andy Ruiz just showed us that an underdog should not be underestimated,” said Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs), from Karaganda, Kazakhstan.  “I trained so hard for this fight.  Everything is at stake.  I love bringing the Big Drama Show back to the Mecca of Boxing because it has a special feel.  To me, it is the boxing capital of the world.  Fighting at The Garden is old school.  Look at the legends that fought there.  The fans know their boxing and appreciate a good fight with a lot of action.  They are a great audience.  I feed off their energy and the energy of the city.”  

 

          “I have never had a training camp like this.  It was so intense and productive.  I turned my professional boxing soul over to [trainer] Tommy [Howat].  I developed such a hunger to learn and an unending desire to achieve, said Rolls (19-0, 10 KOs).  “I have such a strong belief in myself and I believe I’m going to win.  I have been preparing my whole life for this opportunity and it’s an opportunity I’m going to take advantage of on Saturday.” 

Founder/editor Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999. Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.