Los Angeles, CA (March 17, 2015) Boxing Superstar GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN will defend his WBA/IBO and ‘Interim’ WBC Middleweight World Titles against Top-Rated Challenger WILLIE MONROE JR. on Sat., May 16 emanating from the Forum in Inglewood, CA. The championship event will be televised Live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
“I’m very excited to fight again in Los Angeles where I now live” said Golovkin. “Monroe is a skilled southpaw and I look forward to the test he will provide. I promise my fans another ‘Big Drama Show’.”
Said Monroe, “Its going to be one of those fights; speed vs. power, slickness vs. aggressiveness and the bull vs. the matador. I am ready. I’ve been in training already for three weeks before we even got this fight. We will be more than ready on May 16.”
“With the extraordinary success and record crowd of Gennady’s last fight in Southern California at the Stub Hub! Center, we’re very excited to bring him back to Los Angeles on May 16th at the Forum which has such a long and legendary history of boxing,” said Tom Loffler of K2 Promotions.
“We commend Willie Monroe Jr. for accepting the challenge of fighting Gennady, which many other contenders and even title holders are unwilling to even consider.”
“The old adage is that styles make fights and we believe that Willie has the style that will make this a great fight. Willie showed that by winning the 2014 Boxing Middleweight tournament and his win over Bryan Vera proves that he is one of the best middleweights in the world. On May 16 he will prove that he deserved to fight Gennady Golovkin for the Middleweight championship of the World.” said Banner Promotions’ president, ARTIE PELLULO.
“Watching many fighters, fans can only hope to be entertained, but with Gennady Golovkin they can expect to be,” said Peter Nelson, Vice President, Programming, HBO Sports. “Since challenging for his first world title, Golovkin has knocked out all 13 opponents he has faced, a longer streak and higher knockout percentage than any present world champion. On May 16, he looks to build on those accomplishments against Willie Monroe Jr., who himself seeks to enlist among the ranks of storied underdogs who have upended expectations at the legendary venue of the LA Forum.
DANA DUFINE, SVP West Coast, Madison Square Garden Co. said, “The ‘Fabulous’ Forum has a rich boxing history dating back to 1968. This building has hosted over 400 fights and welcomed over 2 million boxing fans through its doors. We are proud to add to its history with the World Middleweight Championship matchup of Gennady Golovkin vs. Willie Monroe Jr.”
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World Boxing Association (‘WBA’), International Boxing Organization (‘IBO’) and World Boxing Council (‘WBC’) ‘Interim’ Middleweight World Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, 32-0-0 (29KO’s) of Los Angeles, California via Karaganda, Kazakhstan will make the 14th defense of his title against top rated challenger WILLIE MONROE JR.,
19-1-0 (6KO’s), of Ithaca, New York on Saturday, May 16 at The Forum in Inglewood.
On February 21 in Monte-Carlo, Golovkin stopped Martin Murray for his 19th consecutive win by knockout, the most in the history of the middleweight division. This will be Golovkin’s second fight in Los Angeles, having stopped former world title challenger Marco Antonio Rubio on October 18, 2014 before a record setting crowd of 9,323 at the StubHub! Center in Carson, CA.
Monroe Jr. won the acclaimed 2014 ESPN Boxcino Tournament defeating fellow contenders Donatas Bondorovas, Vitaliy Kopylenko and Brandon Adams towards the title.
Most recently Monroe Jr. won a 10-round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Bryan Vera on January 16 in a bout telecast on ESPN Friday Night Fights.
Monroe is currently ranked #2 by the WBA, #5 by the WBO and #9 by the WBC.
GOLOVKIN vs. MONROE JR. is presented by K2 Promotions and GGG Promotions in association with Banner Promotions and the Forum.
SOCIAL MEDIA: For more information, visit www.K2Promos.com, www.GGGBoxing.com, www.Banner-Promotions.com, www.FabulousForum.com and www.HBO.com/boxing.
Follow on Twitter at Gennady Golovkin @GGGBoxing, Willie Monroe Jr. @WillieMonroeJr, Tom Loeffler/K2 Promotions @TomLoeffler1, Banner Promotions @BannerBoxing, the Forum @theForum and HBO Boxing @HBOBoxing and become a fan on Facebook www.facebook.com/GGGBoxing, www.facebook.com/WilieMonroeJrFanPage,
www.facebook/BannerPromotions, www.facebook.com/TheForum and www.facebook.com/HBOBoxing.
Use the hashtag #GolovkinMonroe to join the conversation on Twitter.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
