Ten years is a long time in any endeavor.

But in professional sports, it seems far longer.

And when it comes to boxing, the idea of being at or near the top of a given weight class for a full decade—with no prolonged skids or issues with the scale—is particularly remarkable.

Which is why Gennadiy Golovkin is reveling these days.

Now 38 years old, the Kazakhstan-born middleweight has made the 160-pound ranks his personal playpen for all but a few months since he copped his initial championship jewelry—the WBA's second-tier world title belt—with a third-round erasure of one Nilson Julio Tapia on Dec. 16, 2010.

Tapia fought just once more and has long been forgotten.

Golovkin, though, not so much.

He navigated a complex hierarchy to become the division's full-fledged boogeyman by the end of 2017, having held belts proffered by every major sanctioning body but the WBO.

A narrow decision loss to Canelo Alvarez—with whom he'd fought a disputed draw a year earlier—finally ended the run in September 2018, but he's since returned with two wins, regained two championship straps and aims to successfully end a 14-month promotional/pandemic hiatus this week.

Golovkin will face unbeaten Polish export Kamil Szeremeta in Hollywood, Florida, in a fight that officially means a defense of his IBF and IBO titles but for practical purposes is a steppingstone to what figures to be a far more meaningful—provided the world gets back to near normal—2021.

"I'm glad to be able to live through this experience of holding the champion's title for more than 10 years. I'm happy," Golovkin told Bleacher Report. "I believe that there's nothing unexpected in that. I have always believed in myself. I have always believed that I would be able to achieve those results.

"That's the reason I turned pro and proceeded with my career."

Golovkin's promotional hype minions are branding Friday's defense as his 21st, which would break a supposed tie with Bernard Hopkins for the all-time middleweight standard. Of course, such logic conveniently ignores that he didn't hold any organization's top-tier belt until a year after the Tapia win, and he didn't actually become the WBA's premier champion until beating Daniel Geale in 2014.

Still, whether you choose to acknowledge the "record" or not, he's got street cred to spare.

He's 20-0 against post-Tapia foes not named Alvarez, and just two of the 20 have heard a final bell.

And even though most dismiss Szeremeta as a speed bump, Golovkin is steadfast in his reticence to elaborate on the bigger picture until Friday's details are sufficiently—read: violently—handled.

That means no direct talk of nemesis Alvarez, who just happens to fighting Saturday in Texas.

But the intensity in his voice left little doubt as to what will be on his mind come Sunday.

"I'm very focused on my fight (Friday). I hope it will be a great show and we'll see who wins," Golovkin said. "Based on this result, we'll be able to discuss further steps.

"I suggest we talk about the future after the fight."

Eddie Hearn, whose Matchroom Boxing company is working with both Golovkin and Alvarez, said in September that he expected a trilogy fight to be atop the agenda come springtime—presuming Golovkin beats Szeremeta and Alvarez topples WBA 168-pound champ Callum Smith.

"He must take care of (Szeremeta)," Hearn told DAZN.com, "and then hopefully challenge Canelo again at Cinco de Mayo next year when the world returns to normality."

By then, Golovkin would be 39, an age by which most fighters not named Hopkins—still a champ at light heavy at 49—are long gone.

For example, Marvin Hagler, king of the '80s middleweights, was just 32 when he lost to Ray Leonard in 1987 and never returned. Leonard earned the final victory of his career two years later at 33, and Carlos Monzon—whose title-defense record Hagler long chased—retired at 35 after 14 years as a pro.

Golovkin had more than 300 amateur fights and won an Olympic silver medal before going pro at 24.

But if you think he and his team are concerned about shelf life, think again.

The Szeremeta fight will be his third with Kronk-reared trainer Johnathon Banks, who won an IBO title at cruiserweight in his own career and is actually two months younger than Golovkin. The two got together shortly after Golovkin split with longtime corner boss Abel Sanchez following the loss to Alvarez.

"I think he weighed 168 when we opened this camp," Banks told Bleacher Report.

"It's 100 percent training camp, where with other fighters you need to also have to dedicate time to losing a lot of weight. Throughout his career, Gennadiy has fought at middleweight. (He) is a testament to consistency and discipline. He has been a champion every year since 2010. Who else can say that?"

Szeremeta was still two years away from his pro debut in December 2010.

And Alvarez, then 20, won his first belt three months after Golovkin beat Tapia.

"You gain with every fight, and I believe that I'm a much more experienced and smarter fighter than I was in my 20s," Golovkin said. "I use my experience. I use a smart approach to training.

"I listen very carefully to how I feel, and based on that, I work on various aspects of training. There's nothing unusual. It's just all-around training."

And an all-around hunger to not cede the ground he's already conquered.

"I'm a professional. I understand how dangerous this sport is. I train and devote myself 100 percent to every fight," he said. "I feel happy about going out in the ring and fighting."

(NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, all quotes were obtained firsthand.)