Gennady Golovkin might give the impression that he is not a boxing world champion if you were to see him while he is not engaged in combat.
The Kazakh is kind and even innocent looking, with no facial scars and a nose that is still firmly in place.
When the first bell for a fight sounds, though, that endearing smile vanishes.
Golovkin accrued a number of devastating knockouts while bouncing between venues in Monte Carlo, Astana, and Panama City, but the general public was not convinced of his true skill level.
But everything swiftly changed as he defeated Matthew Macklin in 2013 at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket to defend his WBA and IBO middleweight belts.
The Birmingham-born boxer had been unsuccessful in both of his previous bids for the world title, but he was a tough competitor, and a win for "Triple G" would help determine where he stood in his career.
His apparently hardest test ended up being one of his easier ones, as it turned out.
Golovkin pummeled Macklin all over the ring as his now-famous granite chin amusedly ate Macklin's hardest strikes before retaliating viciously.
The fight almost ended in the first round when "Mack the Knife" was nearly knocked out by a powerful right hand, but the third round saw an end to the attack.
The challenger was floored and left writhing in pain as the champion delivered a sickening left hook to the body following a clubbing right uppercut.
Lou DiBella, Macklin's promoter, remarked, "I heard that shot." "It seemed to have a fractured tone. I think I've ever seen a body shot that was harder than that.
In an interview conducted in 2016 following his retirement, Macklin acknowledged that the shot had actually shattered two of his ribs and left him feeling nearly paralyzed.
Macklin told the Daily Star, "I've never gone down from a body shot and that just folded me in half." Even if I had 30 seconds to get up, I wouldn't have done so. I was in excruciating pain and cracked two ribs.
"I was only trying to breathe at the time. Because it was a world title match and I wanted to continue, I tried to stand up, but it seemed like I was paralyzed for 20 seconds before I could stand up.
In 2019, Golovkin agreed to an agreement with streaming service DAZN for six fights totaling more than $100 million.
The only blemishes on GGG's 41-fight record are a draw with Canelo Alvarez in 2017 and a close defeat in their rematch in 2018.
More than a million pay-per-view purchases were made for the GGG-Canelo fights.
DAZN will provide fights from GGG Promotions, which Golovkin founded several years ago, as part of the agreement.
The Kazakhstani boxer has sponsorship agreements with Hublot, Tecate, Jordan Brand by Nike, and Chivas Regal.
Golovkin was born in Karaganda, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union, to a Russian coal miner father and a Korean mother who worked as an assistant in a laboratory for chemicals.
He has three brothers: a twin named Max as well as two older ones named Sergey and Vadim. When Golovkin was eight years old, Sergey and Vadim urged him to begin boxing. Golovkin used to walk the streets with them as a young man, and they would go around finding fights for him with grown men.
Golovkin would answer "No" when asked if he was afraid of him and be instructed to fight. Golovkin stated, "My brothers, they were doing that from when I was in kindergarten." "Different guys every day.
Golovkin began boxing competitively in 1993, age 11, winning the local Karaganda Regional tournament in the cadet division. It took several years before he was allowed to compete against seniors, and seven years before he was accepted to the Kazakhstani national boxing team, and began competing internationally.
In the meantime he graduated from the Karagandy State University Athletics and Sports Department, receiving a degree and a PE teacher qualification. He became a scholarship holder with the Olympic Solidarity program in November 2002.
At the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Bangkok, he won the gold medal beating future two-time champion Matvey Korobov (RUS) 19–10, Andy Lee (29–9), Lucian Bute (stoppage), Yordanis Despaigne in the semi-finals (29–26) and Oleg Mashkin in the finals.
Upon his victory at the 2003 Championships, a boxing commentator calling the bout for NTV Plus Sports, said: "Golovkin. Remember that name! We sure will hear it again."
He qualified for the Athens Games by winning the gold medal at the 2004 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships in Puerto Princesa, Philippines. In the final he defeated home fighter Christopher Camat. At the 2004 Summer Olympics he defeated Ahmed Ali Khan Pakistan 31–10, Ramadan Yasser 31–20 and Andre Dirrell 23–18, losing to the Russian Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov 18–28 to take the silver medal.
At the World Championships in 2005 he sensationally lost to Mohamed Hikal. He finished his amateur career with an outstanding record of 345–5, with all his defeats being very close on points (like 8–+8 versus Damian Austin, or 14–15 versus Andre Dirrell), no stoppages, and the majority of all losses eventually avenged within a year.
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