Gennadiy Golovkin had to battle through sickness to overcome a famously tough fighter.
In his esteemed career, the legend proved himself as one of the most ferocious competitors to have ever laced up the ten-ounce gloves.
However, while some power punchers are only comfortable when things are going their way, Golovkin thrived in adversity.
Not only was he blessed with an iron chin, but also an unrelenting will to win.
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Gennadiy Golovkin finished Gabe Rosado despite having the flu
On January 19, 2013, Gennadiy Golovkin went to war with Gabe Rosado at the Theatre in Madison Square Garden, New York, USA.
While the Kazakh was the favorite going into the contest, on fight week, his team was fearful that he’d have to pull out due to a battle with the flu.
In a documentary released by HBO, his promoter, Tom Loeffler, said: “Starting on Wednesday, he started not feeling well, throat getting scratchy, he was getting congested, by Thursday it got a lot worse.”
His coach, Abel Sanchez, added: “At the weigh-in, he didn’t feel good. When he couldn’t breathe, I convinced him just to go to the weigh-in, go through all the motions, and if we have to call it off on Saturday morning, we’ll call it off.”
By 2 AM on fight day, Golovkin’s health had taken a turn for the worse, with his team deciding to call in a doctor.
With huge doubts starting to form, everybody went to bed and hoped things would be better by the time they woke up.
Sanchez said at the time: “When I knocked on his door at ten o’clock this morning, he comes over to me and says, ‘Coach, I feel great’. As long as he believes it, that’s the only thing that matters.”
Despite not being at 100%, the brawler refused to lose, charging at his opponent and putting on a brutal beatdown.
It got so severe that Rosado’s coach thought he could ‘die’ under the weight of Golovkin’s punches. In the seventh round, the underdog’s corner threw in the towel.
Assessing the performance, Sanchez claimed: “He won every round, he just didn’t have the snap that he’s had in the past.
“But this fight was almost not going to happen two days ago because of how sick he was, and he wouldn’t let me cancel it because he was willing to go through whatever he had to go through to get it done today.”
Gennadiy Golovkin was willing to do something drastic to make the Floyd Mayweather fight happen
Golovkin’s decision to go ahead with the Rosado clash despite his illness is a testament to the warrior he is.
Whether he’s at a disadvantage or not, the scrapper is always willing to get inside the squared circle with anyone the fans want to see him face.
And there was one Hall of Famer that the former middleweight world champion would’ve loved to have gotten his hands on.
In an interview, Golovkin revealed what he was willing to do to fight Floyd Mayweather.