KEY POINTS

  • Golovkin was speaking to media at the press conference for his rematch with Canelo.
  • The two middleweights fought to a split-decision draw back in September.

Unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin expects a completely different story when he takes on Canelo Alvarez in their rematch.

Golovkin and Canelo fought to a controversial split-decision draw in their first meeting in September of last year. Many in the boxing world felt "GGG" was robbed as he had arguably done enough to win the decision with one judge giving Canelo a 118-110 scorecard.

The rematch is now set to take place in Las Vegas on 5 May and while Golovkin was happy to still remain champion, he took aim the controversy surrounding the split-decision draw.

"Yes and no," Golovkin told Fight Hub TV, when asked if he was satisfied with his first performance against Canelo. "Yes because, you know, just I still champion, just bring my belt to home.

"And no because it's not legal...I big boxing fan, you know, this not legal, this not clean sport. I like clean sport. No, I'm feeling very comfortable [despite the draw] because, you know, just, I understand my situation, I understand this business. Today I stand here because I understand this business."

The unbeaten Kazakh also claimed he will display a new version of himself in the rematch, adding that he will bring back the body shots that seemed to be lacking in their first clash.

"A lot...One thing? Beat him," Golovkin replied when asked what he would do different. "Yes, I believe I bring this point [body shots] on May 5th.

"I show you on May 5th. I believe I show you on May 5th, this is new Triple G. I know this [first fight] is bad day for him and bad day for me. Right now this is new story, new fight, and everything's new."

Should he defeat his Mexican foe, the 35-year-old is not thinking about retirement and still targets a complete unification of the middleweight division with Billy Joe Saunders currently holding the WBO title.

"My goal is all the belts in the middleweight division," he added. "If I win, first of all [it's about] how I feel and of course I want to stay in boxing. I don't think too much. I feel great."

Canelo and Golovkin
Canelo and Golovkin face off in press conference for their rematch Getty