Gennady Golovkin Height, Weight, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Gennady Golovkin

• Gennady Golovkin liked playing soccer during his childhood. At that time, he used to watch his brothers practicing boxing in his backyard.

• He often had to fight with other men in the streets as his elder brothers used to pick fights with any passerby.
  

  A childhood photo of Gennady Golovkin

• He started boxing training at the age of 8. His elder brothers went to serve in the Soviet Army when he was 9 years old.

• His first coach was Victor Dmitriev who gave boxing training to him in Maikuduk, Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Only a month after joining the gym, he fought in the ring and lost the fight.
  

  Gennady Golovkin (in red) during his teenage years

• In 1993, he won the Karaganda Regional tournament in the cadet division which was his first amateur boxing tournament win.

• He later completed his graduation at the Karagandy State University where he was given a PE teacher qualification by the Athletics and Sports Department.

• In November 2002, he was given a scholarship under the Olympic Solidarity program.

• He later won many amateur tournaments but after suffering defeat in the final of the middleweight category of the 2004 Athens Olympics, he decided to turn professional.
  

  Gennady Golovkin (in red) during the final of the 2004 Athens Olympics

• When he retired from Amateur boxing, he had won 345 fights and lost only 5. All of those losses were by decisions.

• His first promotional sponsor was Universum Box-Promotion (UBP) for which he signed up in 2005.

• He moved to Hamburg, Germany in 2006 and later to Stuttgart in 2009.

• Between 2006 and 2009, he won 18 professional fights without losing a single fight. In January 2010, he ended his association with UBP, citing disputes regarding his promotion.
  

  Gennady Golovkin during his early career

• In 2010, he moved to the USA after signing up with K2 Promotions. He settled in Big Bear, California and trained under Abel Sanchez.

• He later fought and defeated several boxers such as Gabriel Rosado, Matthew Macklin, and Curtis Stevens.
  

  Gennady Golovkin and Curtis Stevens (right) during the promotion of their fight

• Golovkin later defended his titles against many boxers including Daniel Geale, Marco Antonio Rubio, and Dominic Wade.

• He made a knockout spree from November 2008 to 18 March 2017.

• Gennady Golovkin claimed in an interview in 2016 that the boxing event in the 2004 Athens Olympics was fixed. He said that after the semifinal, a senior official told him that there was only one medal for Kazakhstan in the boxing event, and it was in the junior middleweight category.

• He later said that he was not told the scores during the final match and was later declared runner-up. ^[1]The Telegraph

• On 18 March 2017, he defeated Daniel Jacobs with the judges’ decision of scores 115–112, 115–112, and 114–113 in favour of Golovkin. This was the first time he fought for 12 rounds in his professional career.
  

  Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs (right) before their fight

• His first professional draw came in his boxing match against Canelo Alvarez on 16 September 2017 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas when judges Dan Rafael and Harold Lederman gave a score of 116–112 in favour of Golovkin, and judge Adalaide Byrd gave the score of 118–110 in favour of Alvarez.
  

  Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez (left) during the promotion of their fight

• The Golovkin vs Alvarez fight became the third-highest live gate in boxing history, surpassing the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Alvarez fight. The Golovkin vs Alvarez fight generated $27 million live gate from 17 thousand tickets. It also had 1.3 million domestic PPV (pay-per-view) buys, reportedly generating more than $100 million in revenue.

• His first professional loss came in the rematch against Canelo Alvarez on 15 September 2018 after two judges gave the scores of 115-113 in favour of Alvarez, and one judge gave a draw score of 114-114. It had 1.1 million PPV buys, generating $94 million and a live gate of $23 million from 17 thousand tickets.

• In 2019, he sued his managers, Maximilian and Oleg Hermann, for cheating him financially and sought $3.5 million in damages.

• In March 2019, he signed a 3-year, 6-fight deal with DAZN, for $100 million. The deal also included $30 million for 3rd fight against Alvarez, along with 2 fight cards in 2020 and 2021 for his promotional company GGG Promotions.

• On 17 September 2022, he lost the 3rd fight against Canelo Alvarez with two judges giving the scores of 115-113 and one judge giving a score of 116-112, all in favour of Alvarez.
  

  Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez (left) during the weigh-in

• In 2023, he vacated the titles and took an indefinite break from boxing.

• In 2024, he was appointed as the President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
  

  Gennady Golovking after becoming the President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan

• He likes to have coffee, particularly Cappucino, first thing in the morning to boost his energy. As the day progresses, he later drinks many cups of coffee, especially Espresso.

• Golovkin can speak four languages Kazakh, German, Russian and English.

• He likes to eat oatmeal, eggs and juice for breakfast. His preferred lunch includes grilled chicken, potatoes and a salad with ranch dressing. He drinks a smoothie after completing his evening run. His dinner comprises of steak, mixed vegetables and a potato.

• On the day of the fight, he eats oatmeal, pancakes, potatoes, and eggs for breakfast followed by a snack around 1 pm. He finishes his dinner around 4 pm which includes salad, pasta, chicken, and fish.

• Golovkin is known for his hard-hitting sparring sessions with bigger boxers, most of them being heavyweights. He is known for his power and humility. He is good at the Mexican style of boxing as well.
  

  Gennady Golovkin during a sparring session in the gym

• He has never been knocked down or stopped in his amateur (350) and professional career (45) fights.

• Several documentaries have been made on the life of Gennady Golovkin.