By Dan Ambrose: Showtime commentator Paulie Malignaggi thinks it’s unreasonable for WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. to defend his titles at 154 in a fight against WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs), who has volunteered to move down to 154 to fight Mayweather.
Malignaggi says that Mayweather started his career at 130, and has moved up in weight five weight classes to win titles in each weight class from super featherweight to junior middleweight. Malignaggi feels that instead of Mayweather having to defend his junior middleweight titles against Golovkin at 154, Golovkin should instead move up in weight to 168 to fight WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward.
Malignaggi sees it as no big deal for Golovkin to move up to 168 to fight Ward because it’s only one weight class that Golovkin would be moving up. In contrast, Mayweather would be moving into his 6th weight class since he turned pro if he were to fight Golovkin at 160.
Golovkin isn’t asking Mayweather to fight him at 160 though. He’s willing to fight him at 154. Whatever the case, Malignaggi is strongly against Mayweather having to face Golovkin at 154. It’s unclear what Malignaggi’s thoughts were in Mayweather facing Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who is actually a bigger fighter in terms of weight than Golovkin. If Malignaggi was in favor of Mayweather fighting the 175 pound Canelo but not the 170 pound Golovkin, you have to wonder why?
“With Golovkin, he’s a guy that fought in the Olympics at 165,” Malignaggi said to Dontae’s Boxing Nation. “Mayweather turned pro at 130. So you’re asking Mayweather to go up his 5th of 6th weight class. Why aren’t we asking Golovkin to go up just one weight class? You’re asking him [Mayweather] to test himself in so many weight classes, and you’re not asking Golovkin to go up just one weight class to fight Andre Ward? If Golovkin went up just one weight class to fight Andre Ward, it already has him stuttering. It has him thinking twice about it. If you want Mayweather to move up his 5th or 6th weight class, anyway you flip it; it’s still Mayweather’s 5th of 6th weight class. Oh, he’s [Mayweather] only one away from it [154, the weight Golovkin has agreed to fight him at]. Yeah, he’s one away from it now. It doesn’t mean in his grand body of work that it’s not his 5th or 6th weight class. Why don’t we look at Golovkin vs. Andre Ward? It’s a marketable fight. It’s a fight people would love to see anyway. It’s just asking Golovkin to move up just one. It’s less of a hassle than Floyd moving up 5 or 6,” Malignaggi said.
Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler had this to say to Malignaggi in response on his Twitter:
“Anyone with an 18% KO ratio should not comment on #GGG #HowWouldHeKnow? 20 KOs in a row.”
Golovkin and his promoter Tom Loeffer are interested in big money fights. The Ward-Golovkin fight wouldn’t be a big money fight right now because Ward isn’t a big name, and recently came out of a near two-year layoff to defeat Paul Smith from the UK. Golovkin is willing to move up to 168 to fight popular guys like Carl Froch, but Ward isn’t a big name yet, so it’s not an appealing fight yet.
Golovkin has said repeatedly that he’ll be facing Ward when he eventually moves up in weight to fight at 168 after he exhausts all the top viable fights that can be made at 160. There are still a number of fights that Golovkin wants to try and make before he moves up to fight the likes of Ward, James DeGale and George Groves. The key is “try” to make because if guys like David Lemieux, Miguel Cotto, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Daniel Jacobs, Peter Quillin and Andy Lee don’t make the move to meet Golovkin halfway for a fight, then he’s wasting his time fighting at 160 and should move up sooner rather than later.
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