Loeffler: Golovkin would come down to 154 for Mayweather or Pacquiao fight

By Boxing News - 03/22/2015 - Comments

golovkin45By Dan Ambrose: WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler says that Golovkin would move down to 154 to face either of the two huge stars in the sport in Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao. It wouldn’t be a problem for Golovkin, Loeffler says, because he’s been weighing in for his recent fights at 158 pounds.

What makes a fight between Golovkin and Mayweather or Pacquiao possible is that Golovkin doesn’t rehydrate into the 180s like some middleweights do. He comes into his fights in the low to mid-170s, which means that he basically weighs the same exact amount that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez does when he rehydrates for his fights at junior middleweight.

The difference is that Golovkin doesn’t fight welterweights and junior middleweights like Canelo does. Golovkin fights middleweights, many of which are bigger than him in weight. If Mayweather and Pacquiao are willing to fight Canelo, who weighs the same amount as Golovkin, then they should in theory be willing to fight Golovkin as well, because we’re talking about two fighters that weigh the same after they rehydrate for their fights.

You can make an argument that the 24-year-old Canelo should really be fighting at middleweight rather than junior middleweight, or his made up weight class of 155, which Canelo has fought his last two fights at.

“There is absolutely no question, Gennady’s manager, and Abel [Sanchez], his trainer, for a fight like that [Golovkin against Mayweather or Pacquiao], he would go down to 154. He’s a small middleweight. He’s been at 159 in his last two fights, so he doesn’t struggle to make weight,” Loeffler said via esnewsporting.com. “He wants to prove he’s the best boxer in the sport today. The only way to do that is to fight the other boxers in the sport. People are asking if he’d fight Floyd Mayweather. He’s not calling out Floyd is number one in the pound-for-pound list, and he wants to become No. 1 guy, and he would come down to 154 to do that.”

I really don’t think Pacquiao or Mayweather are going to be interested in fighting Golovkin unfortunately. Golovkin fighting in the middleweight division basically gives both fighters an excuse not to fight him, even though he’s willing to move down to 154 to fight them both in a division that they’ve fought at in the past. Mayweather defeated Canelo by a 12 round decision in a fight that took place at a catch-weight of 154 in 2013. Pacquiao defeated Antonio Margarito in a catch-weight of 150 pounds in 2010.

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Mayweather isn’t big on fighting at catch-weights, so it’s possible he could agree to fight Golovkin at 154. But with Pacquiao, it’s hard to see him agreeing to fight Golovkin at 154. After how tough his fight against Margarito proved to be, I think Pacquiao would also say no to a fight against Golovkin at 150 as well.

It might take a case of him melting down to something like 148 to get the fight made. 148 would make the fight technically a junior middleweight fight, so Pacquiao could say that he’s fighting at junior middleweight at a catch-weight, but it would be a tougher one for Golovkin to make because he would be coming down in weight 11 pounds from his last two fights. Even then, it’s possible that Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum and adviser Michael Koncz wouldn’t agree to the Golovkin-Pacquiao fight without a rehydration clause being inserted into the contract to keep Golovkin from rehydrating to the upper 160s.

Mayweather has showed a willingness to fight guys bigger than himself in the past. For that reason I could see him possibly facing Golovkin if he felt that it was a fight that could make a lot of money. The problem is that there are other fights that would make Mayweather more money than a fight against Golovkin, and that’s why I don’t think he would take a fight against him. It would win Mayweather more respect from the boxing fans if he were to face Golovkin, but at this point I think he’s more concerned with making the most money possible in each and every fight he takes.



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