The final press conference was held at the Hotel Sheraton LAX Airport for the Cinco de Mayo fight card at the StubHub Center in Carson California. The fights will be aired live on HBO premium network broadcast and will feature Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33KO’s) defending his World Boxing Association (WBA) Super World Middleweight Championship against Vanes Martirosyan (36-3-1, 21KO’s). This will be Golovkins 20th defense as WBA Champion – dating all the way back to 2010.
Golovkin is coming into this fight as about a 30/1 favorite on the betting lines, as Martirosyan is stepping in on late notice for the infamous departure of Saul Canelo Alvarez from the fight.
Golovkin is, by all means, expected to put on a show as he comes into the fight off of a split draw to Canelo and unanimous decision victory over Daniel Jacobs in 2017 but at the press conference he had different tone as he does not want to overlook the opponent in front of him, saying, “This is a huge fight and this is not an easy fight, I respect Vanes and his team, they are huge guys.”
Golovkin also wanted to thank all the fans for showing up, as he always likes to in his own way, “Thanks for coming and supporting boxing, thank you to people who support boxing.”
Golovkin closed out his brief speech by saying “The biggest day for boxing is Cinco de Mayo May 5th. I promise we will bring an amazing show.”
Gennady’s opponent Vanes Martirosyan is making his debut at middleweight after having fought his entire career at the super welterweight limit. He is coming into the fight on short notice and after a two year layoff.
Despite that layoff he claims that he is ready to fight, saying to the audience at the final press conference, “I am mentally prepared and hungry, I wish it was tomorrow, lets go.”
“The Nightmare” last fought against Erislandy Lara in May of 2016 and lost by unanimous decision. Martirosyan has a record of only 3-3 in his last six fights; the three losses being via decision to top fighters and world champions.
Martirosyan said in his own words that he is ready to fight, and that “This fight is going to show the world why I am called “The Nightmare”, I am so hungry for this fight, this is what I have dreamed of.”
He went on further to close out his final press conference speech by saying a thank you to everyone involved and that “Cinco de Mayo is going to be beautiful, it’s going to be Mexican style, we are going to war.”
The StubHub Center is set for a historic night of boxing, with Gennady Golovkin and Cecelia Braekhus coming into their respective fights with over 40 combined WBA title defenses.
