Gennady “GGG” Golovkin’s Numbers Game

Numbers don’t lie when it comes to Gennady “GGG” Golovkin.

From unknown to home grown, the Kazakhstani bomber has rocketed from little known East European boxer to world renowned middleweight world champion on the verge of giving other middleweights a nervous breakdown.

One middleweight, Willie Monroe Jr. (19-1, 6 KOs), stepped forward on Tuesday at the Inglewood Forum and will face WBA, IBO middleweight titlist Golovkin (32-0, 29 Kos) on May 16. The southpaw has what few other 160-pounders have: common sense and a southpaw stance with speed to go.

HBO will televise.

Monroe plays the numbers game too. He entered a tournament knowing he could face opponents others dared not face like Bryan Vera, Brandon Adams and Vitaliy Kopylenko. The last two were undefeated until facing Monroe.

“I was not favored to win it,” said Monroe about the Boxcino Tournament he won this past January. “When I fought Kopylenko I was a huge underdog.”

Intelligence has contributed to all of his wins, says Monroe who is related to Willie “The Worm,” Monroe who was one of the few to defeat the great Marvin Hagler in the famous “Philly Wars.” It’s why he thinks he can compete with Golovkin.

If it’s any indication of his smartness, he never did insult, infuriate or berate Golovkin. That showed smartness itself.

Why would anyone want to insult or devalue someone like Golovkin who seems to have hammers in his gloves?

Golovkin has the numbers to back him in any matchup, whether they’re big punchers, boxer-punchers or world class sprinters. In 32 pro fights no one has lasted 12 rounds.

Power remains Golovkin’s biggest weapon and he’s also shown ability to use boxing intelligence to get what he wants: a knockout. Now he faces another boxer with intelligence in Monroe.

“He’s a smart fighter,” said Golovkin, who actually asked for a southpaw with speed to meet in the ring.

Monroe’s promoters said it struck him as odd.

“It was shocking that they (Golovkin) wanted to fight a left-hander,” said Banner’s representative Matt Rowland.

It’s not surprising if you realize that down the road someone like former middleweight champion Sergio Martinez or Erislandy Lara may be waiting to face Golovkin.

One thing is certain, Golovkin has become a star attraction in Southern California or Monte Carlo. Wherever he goes fans want to see the destruction.

Almost 1.5 million people viewed Golovkin’s demolition of Martin Murray this past February on HBO. Nearly half of Kazakhstan’s population tuned into watch the fight in their feed. Eighteen percent of Russian TV viewers also tuned in. In Mexico the numbers were equally staggering.

K-2 promoter Tom Loeffler also announced that Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez will face Edgar Sosa in the co-feature. It’s the reason they are calling the event “Pound for Pound.” Both Golovkin and Gonzalez are considered two of the best pound for pound boxers in the world.

Loeffler said, according to the numbers, they expect the event to come close to a sell-out.

The numbers don’t lie. Triple G is an absolute star.

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