Loeffler: Golovkin to fight in October or November

By Boxing News - 07/27/2014 - Comments

golovkin22222By Allan Fox: IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler says that Golovkin will be back in the ring in October or November against an opponent still to be determined. Loeffler doesn’t know yet who Golovkin will be facing, but he mentioned wanting to match him against Miguel Cotto, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr next if possible.

If he can get any one of those guys in the ring, then he’ll take that fight. HBO wants to see Golovkin fight as much as possible, and they’d obviously be pleased if any of those guys came to the table to fight him.

The Golovkin-Geale fight drew 8,572 fans last night, which is double the number for Golovkin’s last fight. Loeffler feels that Golovkin’s popularity is increasing like a wildfire similar to the way that former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson became popular overnight when he became a world champion at age 19.

Golovkin’s 17-fight knockout string is one reason why his popularity is skyrocketing. He’s been knocking everyone out and doing it in a methodical manner. That’s one of the reasons why Golovkin is quickly catching up to guys like Canelo, Cotto, and Chavez Jr in popularity.

“It’s kind of the Mike Tyson effect in American that Golovkin is bringing to the middleweight division,” Loeffler said at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night. The next fight will be in October or November. We’re only going to find out how good he is when he beats the perceived best competitors.”

Loeffler says that Golovkin’s increasing popularity is going to make him a force to be reckoned with whether the top guys ever fight him or not. They can stay in their own lane without ever fighting Golovkin, but they’re going to be increasingly look marginalized and less genuine unless they do fight him. That’s why it’s actually in Canelo, Cotto and Chavez Jr’s best interest to fight him. At least by facing him, and possibly losing, they can show boxing fans that they had the courage to fight him instead of taking on easy marks.

The most likely opponent for Golovkin’s next fight in October or November is IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman. He wants the fight, because he sees it as having the most upside compared to the title defenses he could make against guys like Andy Lee, Matthew Macklin or Martin Murray.

Canelo, Cotto or Chavez Jr aren’t going to try and fight a guy like Soliman because they obviously don’t see any value in fighting him. But Golovkin will do it if it’s the only option available to him. If the big three don’t want to fight him, then Golovkin is better off fighting a unification match against Soliman rather than defending his WBA title against the likes of Dmitry Chudinov, Daniel Jacobs, Jarrod Fletcher, Willie Monroe Jr., Felix Strum, Arif Magomedov and Patrick Nielsen. Those are the top contenders the WBA has ranked for Golovin to potentially fight.

A win over Soliman will give Golovkin two titles at 160, and it’ll increase his popularity even further, especially if he beats him in an impressive manner like he did with Geale. Soliman is the same kind of fighter Geale is, but even more crafty due to his in and out style of fighting.



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