Gennady Golovkin made his stripes in the public eye via being very active, fighting like an episodic television show, meaning it felt like he inhabited HBO Boxing nearly weekly, but over the past six months or so, that has not been the case.

After the middleweight lost to Canelo Alvarez in a bitter grudge match and HBO left the boxing business, Golovkin went into silence as eager fans and media awaited his next move.

On Monday officially changed that as Golovkin signed a six-fight, three year deal with DAZN.

It was the first time Golovkin had been seen since the post-fight press conference in an organized manner. It is clearly the third act to his career as the 37-year-old, Golovkin along with head of DAZN, John Skipper, didn’t disclose a single number, but one would assume, it was a king’s ransom.

The presser was boring as most press conferences are. It was more about the access, and the ability to read the body language of those involved about the situation.

“It’s no secret I had others offers from other companies. Right now I have the best partner that will let me know promote fighters on GGG Promotions and me as a fighter,” said Golovkin at the press conference.

The last part is interesting as the decision seemed just as much a business one as it is of pure sport. Golovkin spoke of GGG Promotions, a company most have probably not watched a card if it didn’t involve Golovkin, and it seems as though Golovkin is looking towards life after boxing at the start of this deal.

Golovkin also spoke in Russian for the whole press conference. Gone was the gleeful, English speaking Golovkin, who was trying to adapt to American culture as best he could, and before us with a somber, serious Golovkin, with no popular catchphrases.

It felt like a funeral of sorts as a terrific writer, Mike Baca, pointed out here.

“…even a newfound sense of reality where we learned old goals like completely unifying the division are no longer the main objective for the former unified middleweight champion.” Baca wrote in regards to the proceedings.

Golovkin was very good, a hall-of-famer, but it feels he will never be viewed objectively as the best of his generation nor will he have unified the middleweight division, which was one of his major goals. Golovkin will be a great “what-if” story, and that was very clear on Monday.

Golovkin’s first fight on his DAZN deal will be in June against a yet-to-be-named opponent, but one would expect a tune-up type fight as he is introduced to the new streaming platform, DAZN. P

For DAZN and especially John Skipper, this is another major haul in changing the landscape of boxing as they now have Canelo, Golovkin and Anthony Joshua, arguably the three biggest boxing stars in the sport. The next step is to see if people will follow them to new technology, or if they love boxing enough to.

The signing of Golovkin is another shot in the ongoing battle between streaming, terrestrial television, and pay-per-view market. DAZN seems to have the most money to spend, but at some point, they have to be looking for a return on investment, so the 2019-2020 boxing line-up is very important to their success and Golovkin plays a key role in that. The respectable aspect of DAZN is you get pay-per-view fights for $9.99, the problem is can this model sustain.

An interesting note is GGG Promotions will start having two cards a year on the platform in 2020 and that relationship will continue until Golovkin’s contract ends in 2021. The promotional company will look to showcase talent from Kazakhstan and other neighboring countries that do not have adequate representation in terms of television disturbution.

So in short, Golovkin is now with DAZN, and that means that more than likely the trilogy fight with Canelo Alvarez will happen. Golovkin leveraged dates for his own stable that it seems he will be building as well as seemed to get paid well.

For fans of Golovkin, the final fights of Golovkin will be a unique experience as we are in a transitional time in terms of how to watch fights remotely.