By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Nothing is going to distract Gennady Golovkin from the biggest fight of his career.
Not even the birth of his daughter.
Golovkin wasn’t present when she was born Friday in the Los Angeles area. With training camp winding down for his high-profile fight against Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, Golovkin opted to train as scheduled Friday afternoon in Big Bear Lake, California.
His daughter, whose name Golovkin hasn’t revealed, is the second child for Golovkin and his wife, Alina, with whom he also has a son. Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) said Wednesday before a press conference at MGM Grand that the timing of his daughter’s birth didn’t adversely affect his preparation for his HBO Pay-Per-View showdown with Mexico’s Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs).
“My focus was on boxing, the boxing business,” Golovkin said. “Family is different.”
Abel Sanchez, Golovkin’s trainer, gave the middleweight champion the OK to leave training camp Friday once Golovkin received a call to inform him his wife was on her way to the hospital.
“When I talked to him on Thursday, I was starting to voice my concern, you know, that the baby’s not here,” Sanchez said. “He said, ‘Coach, the baby’s gonna be here whether I’m there or not. I’ve done my part.’ On Friday, when he got a call I think about 12 o’clock, she was going to the hospital, I said, ‘OK, well go ahead and go home.’ He said, ‘No, no, no. We’re gonna train at 3 o’clock. We’re training, coach.’ So he didn’t leave the gym probably until 6. The baby was born at 4. The fight’s more important to him. His business is more important to him.”
By Saturday, however, Golovkin was at his home with his wife and children.
“His wife is very athletic,” Sanchez said. “She works out every day. I think she was in the hospital one day. She came home the next day, so he was home with them.”
The 35-year-old Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), a native of Kazakhstan, lives with his family in Santa Monica, California.
2023-10-19 12:27:11
