The fight, announced Tuesday, begins an exclusive six-fight deal that Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs) signed with the global streaming service in March.
Golovkin, 37, last competed in September 2018 when he dropped a narrow decision in his rematch with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, a loss that snapped his 39-fight unbeaten streak and removed his WBA and WBC titles.
A trilogy fight with Alvarez looms on the horizon assuming both can take care of business this spring. Alvarez must first defeat Daniel Jacobs on May 4, while “GGG” knows he has to get past Rolls for the highly anticipated showdown to occur one more time.
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“I am very excited to be returning to the ring and bringing the Big Drama Show back to Madison Square Garden,” Golovkin said in a press release. “The Garden’s fans are fantastic,” said Golovkin. “I love boxing and I promise to bring the best of me to everyone who will be watching me in an all-action fight with Steve Rolls.”
Rolls (19-0, 10 KOs) enters what is by far the biggest opportunity of his career having stopped four of his last seven opponents.
In his last time out, the 35-year-old defeated KeAndre Leatherwood by unanimous decision in December. Many expect Rolls just to be the guy who is standing in the way of Golovkin moving on to better and bigger things. He has other plans in mind.
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“I want to sincerely thank DAZN and GGG himself for giving me the opportunity to challenge one of the best fighters in the world,” Rolls said. “But let me be clear: I’ve won national championships and represented my country, and Golovkin is just a man. I’m coming to win this fight and put my name among the best middleweights in the world.”
The Golovkin vs. Rolls bout caps off back-to-back fight weekends at “The Worlds Most Famous Arena” on DAZN, as unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua defends his titles against Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller on June 1.
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While many expect Golovkin to run over Rolls due to their respective resumes, the native of Toronto is going to come to fight. He’s got everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose. A win over one of the most dominant fighters in the last 15 years will change his life forever and set him up for bigger things ahead. A loss and no one bats an eye because it was supposed to happen anyway.
Rolls is a good fight for Golovkin to get his feet wet after two physically and mentally taxing wars with Alvarez. Expect Golovkin to have the utmost focus on Rolls. He wants to make a splash in his debut affair on DAZN. Add in the fact the Alvarez trilogy is dangling right in front of him. Golovkin feels he was robbed in the first two fights with the Mexican star and a third time around would correct the mistakes the judges made in September 2017 and 2018.
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