Golovkin visits Pacquiao, says Filipino ‘too fast’

“Today with the great @MannyPacquiao,” says Gennady Golovkin in a Twitter post.

MANILA, Philippines—World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin showed up at Wild Card Gym and indicated his support for the Filipino icon in his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 in Las Vegas.

The 32-year-old Golovkin, a consensus pound-for-pound contender with a sterling 32-0, 29-knockout record, didn’t stay long but had a picture taken with Pacquiao, who’ll try to unify the welterweight crowns against the unbeaten Mayweather.

Though he’s the king of the 160-pound division, Golovkin, popularly known as GGG, said via FightHype.com that he’s small for a middleweight and is willing to slide to 154 pounds to fight either Mayweather or Pacquiao within the year.

Golovkin weighed in at 158 pounds in his last fight against Martin Murray, whom he stopped in the 11th round.

But first, the 5-foot-10½ Golovkin will have to dispose of Willie Monroe (19-1, 6 KOs) on May 16 at the Forum in Inglewood, California, to line himself up against the superstars and the big bucks that go with their fights.

Pressed for comment on the Pacquiao-Mayweather clash, Golovkin told Abs-cbn.com: “I think Manny is too fast.”

Stepping up his training, Pacquiao sparred for five rounds on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila). He ran and did exercises at Griffith Park Wednesday morning then reported for gym work with chief trainer Freddie Roach in the afternoon.

Mayweather is also deep in training at his gym in Las Vegas.

For more updates on Pacquiao-Mayweather “Fight of the Century,” visit The Pacquiao Files.