On Saturday, in the mecca of professional boxing, a man raised in Chatham has an opportunity to face a former middleweight champion of the world.
Steve Rolls, 35, is gearing up for the biggest bout of his professional career as he takes on Kazakhstan's Gennadiy Golovkin – also known as 'triple-G' – at Madison Square Garden, this weekend.
Holding a professional record of 19-0, Rolls has climbed through the ranks by defeating back-to-back 20 win boxers KeAndrae Leatherwood and Damian Ezequiel Bonelli, en route to earning a shot at one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. It may come as a shock to some fans, but his family has been watching and believing in his capabilities from afar for a long time.
"For the most part the family is all just sitting back and holding our breath," said Ben Srokosz, Rolls' cousin. "It's just impressive to see him and see how he had grown and when you look at what he's doing now ... it's not a shocker when you look back on it."
Admittedly not close with his cousin, Srokosz said the family saw signs of Rolls' greatness over the years when he came down to visit for family reunions. It was around this time that Srokosz remembers his cousin ending up in Toronto
"I just think his whole life has come up to this point and Steve sounds like he's focused on going in there and there is zero chance that he is accepting a potential loss in his mind," he said. "I think he's going to stand toe-to-toe, I think he's going to have a great fight and come out on top. Whether that's a knockout or that's a score or if they just hold his hand at the end, I don't know but I just have the feeling that this is his time and that this is all meant to be."
Golovkin is coming off the first loss of his professional career to Canelo Alvarez on September 15. Now with a record of 38-1-1 he has told numerous media outlets his focus is on the scrappy Canadian and not a third fight with Canelo.
Regardless of what happens in the bout on Saturday, Srokosz has one message for his cousin, "it's your time."
"We're all standing back in awe of what you've accomplished. You've already accomplished so much so far, we're looking forward to you taking that next step on Saturday," Srokosz said, as a message to his cousin. " This is your chance to really solidify your career. We're all behind you 100 per cent."
The undercard for the Rolls versus Golovkin fight is scheduled to begin around 7 p.m. with both main eventers expect to be in the squared-circle around 11 p.m. The fight can only be watched on streaming website DAZN.