Gennady Golovkin hard on the heels of Mayweather and Pacquiao

For anyone who lived through the Cold War, it's anathema to believe that one of the most popular boxers in the country is from the former Soviet Union.

But Gennady Golovkin, the smiling slugger from Kazakhstan who was born in 1982 when the dour Leonid Brezhnev was still the leader of the Soviet Union, is no worse than the third most popular boxer in the U.S. these days.

It's a combination of his engaging smile, his eagerness to please and his deadly knockout power that has put him in the high-rent district of boxing previously occupied only by Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

Golovkin is one of those guys to watch no matter whom he fights. Mayweather, of course, is a brilliant technician, but his bouts are often one-sided, tedious affairs in which he pecks away at the opponent and a fan is required to have a great appreciation for defense.

Pacquiao once was what Golovkin is now, a fearless destroyer who delivered breathtakingly exciting performances each time out. But the Pacman hasn't had a knockout since 2009 and his most exciting fight recently was one in which he was knocked cold.

Golovkin is the man who is seemingly about to fill that breech. In only his sixth fight in the U.S., his bout on Saturday against Marco Antonio Rubio at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., is already sold out.

Temporary bleachers were erected to add an additional 1,000 seats to accommodate the demand. Promoter Tom Loeffler said the attendance of over 9,000 will be by far the biggest crowd in the history of fights on the tennis court at the StubHub Center.

"People are so excited to see him," Loeffler said. "His style transcends any particular demographic. It's a universal style and it's why he's so popular in the Mexican community here in Southern California.

"Just look at the reaction we're getting here for this fight. People are coming from everywhere. We'll have the biggest crowd ever for a fight here by more than a thousand. That includes some big names. [Julio Cesar] Chavez Jr. fought there. Andre Ward fought there. Brandon Rios. Timothy Bradley. A lot of the big names in boxing fought in this venue and we're going to have the biggest number by a healthy margin."

Loeffler is hoping that the HBO Sports broadcast will deliver the biggest audience to see a Golovkin fight. He's fought five times on the network thus far, with his 1.41 million audience for his 2013 bout with Curtis Stevens the most watched.

Each of his bouts increased dramatically until the Daniel Geale fight in July.

• His bout with Gabriel Rosado was 18-percent higher than his HBO debut against Gregorz Proksa.

• The bout with Matt Macklin represented a 35-percent ratings increase over the Rosado fight.

• The Stevens fight increased 29 percent from Macklin.

The Geale fight attracted only 758,000, a major drop, but it came after he'd been off the network for more than nine months and in July when the HUT ratings (households using television) are by far the lowest.

Golovkin is 30-0 with 27 knockouts and has developed such a fierce reputation that other middleweights are refusing to fight him.

There were talks for a fall fight against Chavez Jr., but that fell through when Chavez couldn't come to terms for a deal.

But Chavez is one of just a number who weren't interested in taking on the Kazakh Killer.

"I love to fight," Golovkin says, grinning broadly. "And I love to fight against the best. If they don't want to fight, [it's] their problem. I don't worry about that. I only worry about those who want to fight."

Rubio is a large, sturdy middleweight who went the distance with Chavez and lasted nine full rounds against hard-hitting Kelly Pavlik.

But he's a massive underdog – Golovkin is as much as a minus-10,000 favorite – and despite Golovkin's words of praise, it's unlikely Rubio will present much of an issue.

"Rubio is strong, a very tough guy, and he has a lot of experience and knows what he is doing," Golovkin said.

So, too, does Golovkin, who is hopeful of landing a high-profile fight against someone like Chavez, Ward or Carl Froch, among others.

But in the meantime, he's content with doing what he is so great at doing: Making exciting bouts and awing fans and opponents alike with his incredible power, tremendous punching accuracy and marvelous conditioning.

Nobody would dare suggest he's surpassed Mayweather or Pacquiao in terms of popularity or drawing ability yet, but if he keeps up the pace he's on, that may well be the case before much longer.

In terms of offense, defense and excitement, Golovkin is as good as it gets now in boxing.