NEW YORK -- Former unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin's career, one that is a virtual certainty to land him in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, can be viewed in three parts.

Part 1 of Golovkin's career can best be defined as 2006 through the latter part of 2012. That is when he turned pro in Germany after claiming a 2004 Olympic silver medal for Kazakhstan, had his career built up by promoter Universum, won a middleweight world title and made his first four defenses.

Part 2 came after a contentious split with Universum, after which he linked up with promoter Tom Loeffler and HBO and made a splash in his first fight on the network and in the United States in September 2012. He doled out a vicious beating in a fifth-round knockout of contender Grzegorz Proksa, and from there, GGG became a superstar. His "Big Drama Show" was must-see TV. He was knocking everyone out -- 23 in a row at one point -- and became a dominant pound-for-pound force.

It was during this part of his career that GGG tied the all-time consecutive middleweight title defense record at 20 and finally got two megafights: his controversial draw with Canelo Alvarez that most thought Golovkin won and his disputed majority-decision loss to Alvarez in the rematch in September that cost him his middleweight belts.

Part 3 begins now with Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs), who lives with his wife and three children in Santa Monica, California, having made the many changes heading into the fight with Steve Rolls in a 12-round bout contracted at 164 pounds on Saturday night (DAZN) at Madison Square Garden.

This third part, a fresh start, if you will, is just getting started. GGG said it will be his last lap of what would be a 15-year professional career of excellence that he intends to end in 2021, coinciding with the end of the broadcast deal he is about to launch with sports streaming service DAZN.

"Right now I have six [more] fights," he said at a recent lunch about his new nine-figure pact with DAZN. "I have a contract for six fights, three years, [then retire] because I love my family."

Golovkin's new broadcast deal kicks off against Rolls in a bout that many, including GGG and DAZN officials, hope will pave the way for a third fight with unified middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in September.

"I want the third fight," he said. "I can't say I am dreaming about this fight every night, but I know 95 percent it will happen in September."

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Golovkin goes into the final stage of his career having made many changes, including taking a hands-on approach to the business side of his things; having more involvement from his wife, Alina; making efforts to beef up GGG Promotions as a company involved in more than just promoting Golovkin's bouts and a new broadcast partner in DAZN. He has a new trainer in Johnathon Banks after many years with Abel Sanchez and even a new lawyer in John Hornewer, who is vastly experienced in boxing, having worked with, among others, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, Floyd Mayweather and Roy Jones Jr. as well as current clients such as Vasiliy Lomachenko and Sergey Kovalev.

Although Golovkin, 37, sees the end coming, he is excited about the new challenges and to be involved on the promotional side when his in-ring days are over.

"I feel very comfortable because they are smart people, real people who support me and they are professional," Golovkin said. "[The business side] is very interesting and I'm very excited about what's happening.

"We did change the environment. There is a new coach, several new things. This is an evolution. You're going up, you're developing. There is a saying that those people who go up who are not strong enough -- they are blown over by the wind. Now I am very comfortable."

After the loss to Alvarez and HBO's exit from boxing, Golovkin was a much-in-demand broadcast free agent. ESPN and Top Rank chased after him. So did Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions. But all along DAZN was viewed as the favorite because it was offering the most money and also because it is where Alvarez also had signed after HBO left the business.

"This is an evolution. You're going up, you're developing. There is a saying that those people who go up who are not strong enough -- they are blown over by the wind. Now I am very comfortable." Gennady Golovkin

During the period of time after the Alvarez rematch in September until Golovkin finally signed with DAZN in March, GGG took over his own business. No longer did he send Loeffler to handle the meetings and then get briefed later. Instead, Golovkin, often accompanied by his wife, attended the meetings. Because English is not Golovkin's first language, every document was translated for him so he could read it on his own. He took a translator to meetings with him as well, as he now does when sitting down with media members.

He was taking the business of his career as seriously as his training.

"He's become more involved in the business side, which is great for any athlete even though I kept him informed about all the different situations with HBO," said Loeffler, the managing director of GGG Promotions. "Here he actually wanted to be involved in the meetings. The reason why the delay came up [in deciding on a broadcaster] was because both sides kept raising their offer and then his wife had the baby and it was a matter of just deciding which was the best deal. But he definitely was more involved in being present in the discussions and the meetings."

Hornewer, who came on board with Golovkin in late December, said he was impressed with the former champ's attention to detail during his business meetings.

"I'm pleased that he uses a translator to make sure that everything is absolutely clear, and I think every fighter who is interested in their career and want it to be a success should take the same steps," Hornewer said.

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Loeffler said the reason Golovkin has become more focused on his business affairs is because he's getting older and, more notably, the "numbers were getting bigger and so he wanted to get more involved, and I give him credit for that because a lot of fighters, athletes let other people do their business and then they're a little detached. We had tremendous success with Gennady, building him up at HBO from someone relatively unknown here in the States to one of the most marketable guys in boxing, and he took that to the next level with this DAZN deal."

Golovkin took some control of his career after the first Alvarez fight in September 2017, when he parted ways with his longtime managers, brothers Max and Oleg Hermann, to manage himself. Earlier this year, Golovkin sued them for $3.5 million, claiming they had failed to account for some revenue from his fights and had taken more than they were entitled to. The case is ongoing.

Part of the deal Golovkin negotiated for himself with DAZN calls for GGG Promotions to get two cards beginning next year on which he plans to build up some of the young fighters he has signed, his way of assuring that he will still have a business in boxing even after he is retired from the ring.

Golovkin was also hands-on negotiating his TV rights deal in his native Kazakhstan and deals with his sponsors. He was also deeply involved in negotiating the split of the revenue with Alvarez on their rematch, holding out for what he wanted even if he risked not getting the fight.

"He's just gotten more hands-on now," Loeffler said. "For his peace of mind, he knows what's going on, and the way he negotiated the Canelo II fight, I have to give him a lot of credit because he held out for a deal that I would have accepted before."

Gennady Golovkin says he's not looking past Steve Rolls, a heavy underdog in their Saturday fight at Madison Square Garden. Amanda Westcott / DAZN USA

There won't be as difficult a negotiation for a third fight with Alvarez because they both already have their money locked in with DAZN, which doesn't rely on the pay-per-view model. Rolls (19-0, 10 KOs), 35, of Toronto, who has yet to face a name opponent, will attempt to ruin Golovkin's plans but is a massive underdog.

"If he's able to beat Steve Rolls on Saturday night, hopefully we'll get the third fight with Canelo. That's what the fans are looking forward to," Loeffler said. "DAZN signed Canelo for big fights. They signed GGG for big fights, and a third fight with GGG and Canelo is one of the biggest fights you can make in boxing."

Golovkin expects to defeat Rolls and then fight Alvarez for reasons he said are not just about avenging the draw and loss, both of which he and many thought he deserved to win.

"I look at [a third] fight as not just boxing but as business," he said. "I thought I won the previous two fights. I don't need to prove anything to anybody. I have proved everything I needed to prove to myself. This is just business now."