Gennady Golovkin deserves the support of boxing fans everywhere for his endless desire to be the world's best middleweight fighter.
The 30-year-old Kazakhstan native will take on Polish boxer Grzegorz Proksa in New York on Saturday night to decide the WBA Middleweight Championship.
The biggest storyline by far heading into the HBO bout is Golovkin. Despite being an Olympic silver medalist at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, he is not content to finish out his boxing career in Europe.
Here is Golovkin (via ESPN.com's Dan Rafael) on his desire to conquer the sport he loves:
I want to fight in America because I realize America is the biggest boxing market and there are a lot of great fighters in my division in America. There are good fights over in Europe, but for me the priority is to be at the top of the sport in America.
The 2003 middleweight world champion is 23-0 with 20 knockouts over his professional career, but is risking his undefeated record to chase the top spot in the United States.
Although a fighter as talented as Golovkin should always believe he can beat anyone in his division, his decision to square off with Proksa this weekend provides a refreshing change from the boxing norm.
In a day and age where fans are clamoring for a mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. that will seemingly never happen, Golovkin's fearless attitude should be commended.
Boxing fans should be cheering for Golovkin on Saturday night in New York. Instead of riding off into the sunset with his world title he has opted to embark on what will surely be the greatest boxing challenge of his life.
Even if he can defeat the 27-year-old Proksa, he will soon be pitted against some of the division's more recognizable stars like Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
This Golovkin (via ESPN.com's Dan Rafael) on his Saturday night bout with Proksa:
This is my first fight in America, my first fight on HBO, and now I have to prove my skills in the ring on this type of platform.
There is no doubt that Golovkin will prove his skills in his first big matchup in the ring on U.S. soil. He is an Olympic medalist, a world champion and a refreshing challenger to the middleweight division.
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