By Michael Woods
Basic, he called him.
Strong, yes…but basic.
And…he's not wrong, Dominic Wade, in assessing the best middleweight on the planet, Gennady Golovkin, as that.
But I do think young Wade is going to be changing in his mind his theory of “basic” after they collide April 30 in LA, and on HBO.
Because GGG (seen left with Wade right in Will Hart/HBO pic) doesn't look flashy, doesn't waste motion, doesn't own a “Golovkin shuffle,” or some other signature move…beyond the one where he drops and stops his foe, that doesn't mean “basic” is bad.
Every one of them, the last 21 times he's steeped into the square ring, he's stopped out.
Basic.
Basic badass.
Here's what the principals had to say at the Thursday press conference at Madison Square Garden to hype the latest defense of Golovkin's status as the best 160 on the planet.
NEW YORK CITY (February 19, 2016) Boxing Superstar and Undefeated, Unified Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, 34-0 (31KO’s) and Undefeated Mandatory Challenger Dominic “Lights Out” Wade, 18-0 (12KO’s), met for the first time in front of the New York City media at Madison Square Garden, “The Mecca of Boxing”, to formally announce UNDEFEATED, their April 23rd showdown at the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles and televised Live on HBO World Championship Boxing® beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Golovkin vs. Wade headlines another great HBO World Championship double-header co-featured by Consensus #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World and WBC Flyweight World Champion, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, 44-0, (38KO’s) and world ranked challenger McWilliams Arroyo, 16-2 (14KO’s) of Puerto Rico.
Tickets for the live event priced at $400, $300, $200, $100, $60 and $30, can be purchased through Ticketmaster (Ticketmaster.com, 1-800-745-3000) and the Forum Box Office.
Here are the quotes from the participants.
Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
“This is a big opportunity for Dominic Wade, I remember what it was like before I became a champion, I’m sure he’s very hungry for this opportunity and will train hard.”
“Bernard Hopkins has a great record of title defenses, but my focus is not on his record but on my story.”
“This is my next step and I’m very excited to continue building my story. I have a great deal of respect for Dominic. I look forward to fighting at my second home, the Forum on April 23.”
“It’s a joke for Billy Jo Saunders to want to face me right after we announced this fight, he’s not serious.”
“I want to fight Canelo and many big fights, big shows, but it’s not frustrating for me to
face other fighters.”
Dominic Wade
“I’m ready for this, people ask if I’m nervous, not at all. I’ve been a fighter all my life, always wanted to be a world champion. When this opportunity came up I was so excited I could have run 30 miles.”
“I know how good Gennady is but I’ll be ready on April 23 to be victorious and show the world who the best middleweight is.”
“I see flaws in his game that I can take advantage of. He’s very strong but also very basic in
some ways.”
Tom Loeffler/K2 Promotions
“Our philosophy has always been to work with any manager or promoter for Gennady. We did this deal within a week working with Al Haymon and Tom Brown.”
“From a commercial standpoint, the fight is bigger if Gennady and Canelo both win their upcoming fights.”
“Gennady is the first non-Puerto Rican fighter to sell out Madison Square Garden in many years.”
“Building his commercial appeal internationally, Gennady’s becoming a much bigger star.”
“I have to continue to have multiple options when putting together fights for Gennady.”
“With Gennady’s commercial value we can make lucrative offers such as we did for
Billy Jo Saunders.”
“My commitment to Gennady is to work towards him becoming the undisputed middleweight champion.”
Jerry Vines/Manager of Wade
“Thanks to Al Haymon who brought us to this fight for which we had no hesitation. They could have fought someone else but they wanted the fight and we wanted the fight.
Much thanks to Dominic for taking the fight, he was very excited when offered this challenge.”
We got this done in a week which tells you how excited we were to make this fight.”
Abel Sanchez, Trainer of Golovkin
“I have to remind everyone as Gennady says, he wants all four middleweight belts, so It’s not hard to keep him focused. This keeps him motivated, he wants to be the undisputed middleweight champion. No way was he going to give up the IBF belt.”
Wade is not spectacular but he is undefeated, I’ve followed him since he was an amateur. We’ll prepare for the best middleweight in the world and we’ll be ready.”
“It’s a big part of history to break Bernard Hopkins’ record and will be great for Gennady’s record. Wade is the next step; we’re going to prepare for the utmost. “
Jay Stancil/Trainer of Wade
“We will be ready and prepared for this moment. We’ve already started training and we’re ready to pull the upset and shock the world. Dominic is hungry to win the world title and he will be ready to on April 23.”
