Golovkin scorns 'dirty mouth' rival
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LOS ANGELES • Gennady Golovkin issued a warning on Tuesday to Oscar de la Hoya who claimed he wanted to fight the world middleweight champion when he makes an improbable return to boxing.
The 47-year-old American great announced in August he plans to come out of retirement after a 12-year absence from the ring. And recently, he said he wanted International Boxing Federation world champion Golovkin, who is more commonly known by his "Triple G" nickname, to mark his return.
"You know how easy 'GGG' would be for me? Oh, my gosh," De la Hoya told the Boxing Scene website last month. "I always took a good shot and I always took apart fighters like him. In my mind, it would be that easy."
But Golovkin, who is will make a mandatory defence of his title against unbeaten Polish fighter Kamil Szeremeta in Florida tomorrow, brushed off De La Hoya's trash talk.
"You know Oscar, you know how dirty his mouth is," the 38-year-old Kazakh said through a translator when asked if he took De La Hoya's challenge seriously.
"Everything involving Gennady Golovkin for him is a nightmare. He can say whatever. But let me put it this way - If I got an opportunity to legally kill a person in the ring, I might seize it."
On lucrative exhibitions - Mike Tyson took on Roy Jones Jr while Floyd Mayweather is set to fight YouTube personality Logan Paul in February - Golovkin did not rule out taking part but insisted he had legitimate fights to take care of first.
He said: "Right now, I'm in my professional boxing career and I don't see the need for that myself. But in future, if there is a demand and an interest, then why not?"
The sole blemish on the Kazakh's 42-fight record remains the majority loss to Mexican multi-weight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in 2018.
Meanwhile, De La Hoya has not fought since being dismantled by Filipino Manny Pacquiao in eight one-sided rounds in 2008.
However, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics gold medallist said he is serious about a comeback, telling ESPN in August he was ready to fight "any top guy" available.
De La Hoya set up one of boxing's biggest promotions, Golden Boy, after ending his career and was part of the acrimonious build-up to Golovkin's two bouts with Canelo.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
