Ahead of his return to the ring this week, world champion fighter Gennady Golovkin has been spending some time with Cristiano Ronaldo – and suggested that the football icon might well have had a handy career in the boxing ring.
Ronaldo, now in his 36th year on earth, has rightfully cultivated a reputation for being one of the most hard-working athletes in all of sport. The list of players performing at a high level at his age is a short one, and such is his dedication to his craft that Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin says that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner might well have carved out a future for himself in pugilism had his football career not panned out.
Ronaldo, though, wasn’t quite so certain telling Golovkin in footage released earlier this week that in order to become a top level prizefighter a person needs to be “born with a gift” – not nonetheless, Ronaldo was keen to learn a examples pieces of ringcraft from one of the most successful fighters of his generation.
And the first lesson? Footwork.
I got some boxing pointers from one of the best, @GGGBoxing. A man who truly has perfected his craft. I can’t wait to watch him fight again this Friday on @DAZNBoxing. pic.twitter.com/7As5goAQWR
“Even in boxing, the footwork is very important,” Golovkin explains to the Juventus star.
“It’s very, very important. Just, you know, your position, your balance. If you lose your position, your body position, you have lost.”
Losing is certainly something that doesn’t come naturally to the 38-year-old Kazakh, and it is a flavor that he has tasted just once in his career against Canelo Alvarez two years ago. Normal service has since resumed, with ‘GGG’ besting both Steve Rolls and Sergiy Derevyanchenko in his last two outings.
Golovkin will look to secure the 41st win of his professional career on Friday against undefeated Pole Kamil Szeremeta on Friday to potentially clear a path for what would be a third fight against fellow pound-for-pound great Canelo but as he explained further to Ronaldo, the margins in boxing are very small where even the most innocuous error can cost you a fight – and perhaps even more than that.
“If you’re a fighter, you can’t lose seconds,” Golovkin explained.
“Just one second, one punch. It changes a lot. Not just a fight, sometimes it changes lives if you lose to a good punch, a lucky punch.”
