Whether Gennadiy Golovkin is going to eventually get that trilogy crack against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez or move on to another blockbuster fight, the first step for "GGG" will be handling business Saturday night.
That's when Golovkin will be tasked to defeat Sergiy Derevyanchenko to win the vacant IBF middleweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York City, live on DAZN.
That being said, how does the heavily favored GGG avoid an upset and return to being a middleweight world titleholder and possible boogeyman of the division? Here are three keys for the 37-year-old veteran.
Put Derevyanchenko on notice of power early
Derevyanchenko is a busy fighter with a great motor and can be a quick starter. That's all the more reason for the older Golovkin to put the Ukrainian fighter on notice of his power early into the fight. That will make Derevyanchenko think twice of trying to get rugged on the inside with the former middleweight champ.
MORE: Full fight info and how to watch GGG-Derevyanchenko
Heed trainer Johnathon Banks' advice
This is only Golovkin's second bout under trainer Johnathon Banks. The two only had about four weeks of training before GGG's fourth-round destruction of Steve Rolls back in June. Although Golovkin is heavily favored in this fight, if Derevyanchenko rises to the challenge and makes enough adjustments to challenge GGG, the Kazakh warrior will need to heed Banks' in-fight advice. Remember, they're still learning and feeling each other out as a boxer-trainer pair, so bolstering their chemistry in this fight is imperative.
Bring the "Big Drama Show"
If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Many boxing pundits believe that GGG's fights against Canelo could have gone either way, and that draw and defeat are the only blemishes on Golovkin's 39-1-1 record, which includes 35 pulverizing KOs. That means that Golovkin doesn't need to change much. If anything, merely being himself and bringing the forward-fighting, heavy-handed "Big Drama Show" he's known for should be more than enough fireworks to overwhelm Derevyanchenko.