In this week’s biggest fight, defending WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (26-0, 23 KOs) takes on Matthew “Mack The Knife” Macklin (29-4, 20 KOs) in a much-anticipated showdown at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. HBO will televise. The exciting Golovkin enters with a 13-fight KO streak and seven world title defenses under his belt, however there has been criticism that he isn’t facing top level competition. Macklin, who was very competitive in losses to Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez, figures to be by far the toughest test for Golovkin to date.

“Most of the guys he has been walking through have been 154 pounders,” Macklin said during a conference call last week. “I’m a strong, big punching 160 pounder. And that changes things. All of a sudden he’s going to have to be a lot more pre-occupied with defense in this fight than he has in probably all of his previous ones.

“He’s got a lot of hype around him. If it wasn’t for his amateur pedigree, I wouldn’t really read into the hype at all because he hasn’t really beaten anybody of any note. But, of course, the amateur pedigree suggests that he’s the real deal.

“I’m going to hit him back just as hard as he’s going to hit me. So yes, he is accurate. He’s got good timing. He’s heavy handed. And so am I. So it’s going to be an exciting fight.”

K2 Promotions Managing Director Tom Loeffler, Golovkin’s promoter, addressed the selection of opponents for Golovkin.

“We’ve told HBO, anyone in fact, there’s no name that we’ve turned down yet for Gennady…one fight at a time, but our goal is to unify the titles at 160. And for the right opportunity Gennady is fully prepared to also fight anyone at 154 or 168.”

For his part, Golovkin said “My only focus is on Matthew Macklin on Saturday, June 29, nothing else….I know that Chavez Jr., Geale and Sturm have fights coming up. I will fight any of them. I want to fight the best and challenge myself always.”