GGG says full focus is on Rolls, not Canelo

GGG says he’s not looking past Steve Rolls and ahead to a possible third fight with Canelo.

Midlife crisis can come for ya earlier or later, or not at all if you are lucky or dead.

But many if not most folks, once they reach a certain age, something clicks in. It’s a gnawing, then a dawning, = then a reckoning. Oh, right, this run isn’t infinite.

You can run, but from aging, you can’t hide, even with the best surgeons and biggest money bags. There is no insulation invented which prevents deterioration from aging.

Of course, most everyone rails against the lessening. To a degree or another, whether with beard dye or collagen implants or drinking wine five nights a week instead of the customary two. But the wiser ones maybe go about it a better route: shrink visits or a shift in vocation to a service job, helping humanity rather than stock portfolio. Or they get a new trainer, replacing the one they’d had since they were 18-0, not because they are looking for a scapegoat, but because they realize that staleness can beset the best of us, and some new methods and hit of the refresh button in not the wife but the trainer department could prove invigorating.

So when I asked Gennady Golovkin on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden if he felt as good as he did a few years back, I didn’t expect him to admit, “No, I feel worse.”

But sometimes you ask questions you pretty much know what response you get, but ask it anyway, because of the possibility that you might get a surprise comeback. Nah, I’m feeling good, the 37-year-old said, and this reset is serving me well. That was the message at the presser, which featured GGG and promoter Tom Loeffler, opponent Steve Rolls and his promoter Lou DiBella, and an air of sportsmanship from all involved.

If not attending the arena, people can tune in to watch portions of the seven bout card on DAZN. The scrap is the second in as many weeks in that big room, and June 1 saw the Upset of the Year — we likely couldn’t get a more massive jaw-dropper than Andy Ruiz over Anthony Joshua, could we? — which Rolls is keen to replicate, and GGG is dead-set on rebuffing.

“Not really like that. I feel my experience, I have my experience,” he told me, when I asked if he felt he needed a reboot.

“I come back, like smart guy,” he said, referring to that time off since his last outing, a supposed L against Canelo. He’s now wearing more hats, fighting plus promoting six hitters, and he likes the new duties, he stated.

“Right now, I feel new company, with DAZN, new coach, new system, new everything, new vision, like new generation.”

It was fall when he fought last. We cycled through winter and spring, and now summer sizzle is promised. Will sizzle be on the menu Saturday? What new tricks could he bring to the trade after debuting in 2006 — do the math, many moons ago?

”I bring amazing show for people,” he said,. “A good event. Undercard is beautiful. I believe everybody want my fight. Steve Rolls, he’s undefeated. Very important, he’s a professional fighter. He’s from Canada, c’mon guys, like in NBA Finals right now, Raptors. Nobody knows, Toronto the same!”

Then I got a little bit fresh, but not really, because I wanted to go there, but not get shot down.

“One of these guys,” I said, gesturing at the hungry videography squad led by David Yi and company, “is gonna ask ya, but I’m not, what about a third Canelo fight?”

”Smart,” said GGG, just a hint of pinch on his face.

“Everybody ask me,” he said, relaxing a notch. “Guys, c’mon, my focus is on Steve Rolls! If I feel good and beat him, 99 percent I will comment in September!”

And would he offer a prediction for Saturday?

“This is boxing, nobody knows!”

My three cents: Yes, he sounds like a sage. At 37, all he’s done, the longevity he’s enjoyed, the heights he’s climbed, the contract he snagged at this later stage of his career, that’s a wise answer. And that’s why I’m thinking his tweaks, those moves made, they could pay some dividends. Most of us flounder when seeking to activate large-scale, big-picture lifestyle shifts. But a GGG has proven to be of a higher caliber. At 37, you’d think his run on DAZN could likely feature diminishing returns. I’d not bet on a resurgence. This is boxing, though, and nobody knows.