Boxing News 2016: Golovkin Expected To Break Bernard Hopkins' Record; Champ Keith Thurman Involved In Car Accident
Boxing trainer Abel Sanchez holds high expectations for his most prized ward, undefeated Kazakh knockout artist Gennady Golovkin.
"GGG," who holds a record of 34-0, with 31 wins by knockout, is slated to face fellow undefeated fighter Dominic Wade on April 23rd at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Golovkin will be defending his WBA, IBO, and IBF world middleweight titles, as well as his WBC interim middleweight title.
He is also slated to face the winner of the WBC world middleweight title bout between champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Amir Khan, which takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on May 7th.
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The 33-year old Golovkin is about to embark on his 16th consecutive title defense against Wade and according to Sanchez, they are gunning to topple the record of former world champion and future Hall-of-Famer Bernard Hopkins, who holds 20 successful title defenses.
"We like his place in history if he passes Bernard Hopkins for most consecutive title defenses at 160 (pounds)," Sanchez told Boxingscene.com. "If he continues his KO streak and keep the highest knockout percentage in middleweight history, that's motivation."
Sanchez adds that they are, in fact, trying to have Golovkin fight Hopkins as well and if that option falls through, they are also eyeing a title unification bout against WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders.
Meanwhile, undefeated welterweight world champion Keith Thurman was recently involved in a car accident last Wednesday, when his car was struck at the rear passenger side. In another report by Boxingscene's Jake Donovan, Thurman's scheduled March 12th bout against former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter has been postponed.
As of this writing, the final date of the new Thurman-Porter fight has not yet been determined. According to promoter Lou DiBella, Thurman was hit so hard during the accident that the fighter described being hit by the vehicle's airbags as "harder" than any punch he's ever encountered.
