Photo: Ed Diller / DiBella Entertainment
On Wednesday afternoon, Matthew Macklin and WBA middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin met in New York City for the final press conference for Saturday night’s showdown in Mashantucket, Conn.
“It is very good to see everybody, and I want to thank everyone who was involved in making this fight,” said Golovkin. “We are very close right now to the fight night and I am very excited. I think this is a great fight for us. I am the champion, and Matthew is the best challenger out there for me. This fight will prove who is truly the best in the middleweight division.”
Golovkin-Macklin headlines a tripleheader from the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods, which will be televised on HBO.
Said promoter Lou DiBella, “This is going to be a terrific fight and a terrific event on Saturday night. Golovkin has already been ordained as the 2nd coming and we and Team Macklin think that he needs to prove that, and on Saturday night he is going to have to walk through fire to do that.”
Golovkin (26-0, 23 KOs) is coming off a knockout win over Nobuhiro Ishida and is making the sixth defense of his title.
For Macklin (29-4, 20 KOs), this marks his third title opportunity, having lost via split decision to Felix Sturm and then getting stopped by Sergio Martinez.
“This is my third time fighting for a world title and I feel that I am a better fighter now than in either of those appearances. The biggest fights and the toughest challenges have always brought the best out of me, and I know that is what will happen on Saturday night,” proclaimed Macklin. “No disrespect, but he has never fought anyone of my caliber. The amateurs are the amateurs, this is the professionals. He was winning amateur championships when I was having 12-round wars.
“There is an old saying, ‘When the going gets tough the tough gets going’, and I know we have a tough task on Saturday night, but I know that on Saturday night I WILL be walking out of that ring as the new middleweight champion of the world.”
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