p.46 " In the public eyes" In the public eye

t’s four .m. and thousands of people a e queui g up o tside a buil ing n the centre of Las Vegas, US Reporter and c mera crews are standing by eagerly hoping to capture t e arrival of a c brity Bu they aren’t waiting for a film star or a famous singer. Tonight, they have come to watch a boxing match between the undefeated Kazakh champion Gennady Golovkin and the Mexican Canelo Álvarez.

This is the age of sports superstars. Athletes like Golovkin and Álvarez are more famous than many actors and musicians. Attendance at sporting events is huge: 3.5 billion people worldwide watched the Olympic Games, and the FIFA World Cup is expected to attract even more viewers.

The crowd in Las Vegas starts cheering. One of the boxers has just arrived. Gennady Golovkin has already won many boxing matches and he is ready for the challenge. In fact, he still hasn’t lost a match in the middleweight category. As a world champion and record holder, he is always in the public eye. In the weeks before an event, newspapers and magazines publish countless stories about his life, his achievements and his family.

While some psychologists think that this obsession with sports personalities is pointless and even harmful, others see the athletes as positive role models for young people. Golovkin, for example, has

encouraged hundreds of teenagers to take up sport. He has also showed them that it requires a lot of determination and hard work to become successful in any field. Many rising stars who haven’t had their big break yet look up to him for inspiration.

Golovkin’s fans give out one last cheer as the boxer walks into the building. And who knows, maybe the next big boxing star will be one of the five million people who are going to watch him fight tonight.

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