Gennady Golovkin guns for his 17th consecutive middleweight title victory on Saturday

The gap between Gennady Golovkin and his peers is revealed by the middleweight champion’s string of 22 consecutive knockouts and his success is rooted in his gym work.

The Kazakhstan fighter’s intense regimen, conducted in the high altitude of trainer Abel Sanchez’s Big Bear gym, includes 4,000 sit-ups a day, brutal chin-strengthening push-ups without the use of arms and a closing drill of 150 “high-knee” jumps.

Some veteran professional fighters, who serve as Golovkin’s sparring partners, tried to match him in the training sessions only to beg for mercy. But after cruising through a neck-strength-building sequence, wearing a strapped-on eight-pound headgear piece, Golovkin proclaimed, “Easy.”

“My preparation every day is to show I’m ready for 12 rounds,” he said. “I need a long fight. Maybe it won’t happen this time with Kell Brook, but I need it.”

Golovkin defends his title Saturday against England’s Brook (36-0, 25 knockouts), and Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) conceded Brook home-arena advantage for the HBO-televised bout at O2 Arena in London.

Brook is the International Boxing Federation welterweight champion and his biggest win was a 2014 majority decision over Shawn Porter at StubHub Center. He is a 7/1 underdog against Golovkin.

Golovkin, who holds three middleweight belts, is aiming for his 17th consecutive middleweight title victory.

It appeared briefly as if this month could mark a showdown between Golovkin and Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez, who successfully defended his World Boxing Council middleweight belt in May. After that bout, Alvarez summoned Golovkin into the ring and said “Mexicans don’t [expletive] around,” suggesting they’d fight each other next.

But Alvarez relinquished his belt to mandatory challenger Golovkin and instead selected England’s 154-pound world champion Liam Smith for a Sept. 17 super-welterweight title bout in Texas.

Meanwhile, Alvarez has promised to fight Golovkin in September, 2017.

Golovkin, in a dramatic turn from his usual kindly demeanor, tersely told The Times last week he believes Alvarez’s vow will prove “impossible” to keep, predicting further gamesmanship about unfair demands on the purse split.

“[Alvarez in May] said, ‘Give me the gloves, I’m ready right now,’” Golovkin noted. “Too much talking … it’s of no respect to the fans. It’s not serious. … He’s not ready.”

“His bravado has gotten in the way of common sense,” Sanchez said of Alvarez. “He’s not ready to move to 160 pounds [only] because Golovkin’s there. Say what’s real.”

After the Alvarez fight fell though, Golovkin asked his promoter, Tom Loeffler, for a fight in England. Talks unraveled with English middleweight Chris Eubank Jr., leading promoter Eddie Hearn to turn to another of his fighters, Brook, to face Golovkin.

Golovkin originally believed Brook’s interest was a joke, but was assured it was sincere. There was just nine weeks remaining before the HBO date, and Golovkin demands an eight-week training camp. So the deal was made, and a sellout crowd will fill the O2.

“Brook is a champion, undefeated. He’s not scared,” Golovkin said to highlight the contrast to Alvarez. “[Brook] signed the contract. Respect. He’s a fighter.”

Golovkin wants to maintain a three-fights-per-year schedule, and is angling for a late-November date against either mandatory World Boxing Assn. co-champion Daniel Jacobs or World Boxing Organization middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders.

First, there’s Brook, who was a surprisingly large 176 pounds for the 160-pound fight at the 30-day weigh-in.

“If I’m in Kell’s corner, I would take advantage of his hand speed, foot speed, his quickness, his elusiveness,” Sanchez said. “But seeing how big he [was], they might think they can attack Golovkin, out-muscle him. If that’s the case, we’re going to have a hell of a fight.”

Sanchez knows enough about his fighter to foresee what’s coming.

“[Golovkin] tries to land that one punch to hurt you,” Sanchez said. “And once he sees he hurts you, he’s a predator.”

Golovkin beamed at the theory.

“I need to [find] my distance and timing, and have just that one moment,” he said.

Sanchez pondered Brook’s strategy as he watched Golovkin grind through his merciless workout.

“Brook’s coaches are respected, they run one of the biggest gyms in the south of England,” Sanchez said. “But many coaches think their way is the only way. Because of that, sometimes maybe they out-think themselves and don’t take into consideration what the other guy has.”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire