Hopkins: Canelo-Golovkin will happen in September 2016

By Boxing News - 12/28/2015 - Comments

1-GolovkinLemieux_Hoganphotos1By Dan Ambrose: Bernard Hopkins of Golden Boy Promotions insists the middleweight clash between WBC belt holder Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) and his mandatory challenger Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) will definitely be taking place next year in September.

Hopkins is very confident that the fight will take place despite the concerns that many boxing fans have of it not for one reason or another.

“Canelo-Triple G, I want to see that fight,” Hopkins said to esnewsreporting. “That fight is going to happen. We all know they both have the option to build up the fight. It is good business, good hype going into September next year,” Hopkins said.

One of the reasons why we might not see the Golovkin vs. Canelo fight starts with the catch-weight of 155lbs that Canelo has fighting at for the past four fights. If Canelo insists on fighting Golovkin at 155, we are not sure if Golovkin will be willing to give him that handicap.

Unlike Canelo, Golovkin is a traditionalist who believes in fighters fighting in proper weight classes with weight limits. Golovkin does not believe in fighting at catch-weights. Golovkin said he would fight Floyd Mayweather Jr in the past, but he would be willing to go all the way down to 154 to make that happen.

Golovkin was not going to fight Mayweather at a catch-weight. He would have fought him at 154. With Canelo, he clearly does not need to fight Golovkin at a catch-weight, given that he is heavier than he is. The only reason to fight Golovkin at 155 would be for Canelo to try to gain an advantage over him, that Golovkin is not accustomed to draining down in weight as Canelo is.

Golovkin is also an older fighter, and it is sometimes not easy for older guys to drain down in weight to fight at catch-weights like younger fighters. If Canelo is still using catch-weights when he is 33 like Golovkin, then more power to him. I kind of doubt that Canelo will still be using catch-weights eight years from now, because I doubt he’ll even be able to make 160 by that point in his career due to his metabolism slowing down because of age.

If Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions do not want the fight with Golovkin right now, you can bet that they will drag their feet during the negotiations for the fight and then come up with an excuse for why tye fight cannot happen. It’s in their best interest not to let the fight happen right now because Golovkin is in the prime of his career and is clearly a couple of levels above Canelo and his last opponent Miguel Cotto in terms of talent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR3HfOkd9bY

Canelo barely beat Cotto in their fight last November, and that fight showed the limitations that Canelo has. He was like a slightly bigger version of David Lemieux in that fight. I would not say that Canelo is better than Lemieux because he appears to be about the same as him in terms of talent.

The only thing that Canelo has over Lemieux is a huge built in fan base in the United States that watch his fights and are willing to pay to see him on PPV. Other than that, I think that Lemieux and Canelo are the same fighters. That is why I have a feeling that Canelo and Golden Boy will drag their feet when it comes to the negotiations for the Golovkin fight in order to keep the gravy train going.

As long as Canelo keeps winning, his fans will keep paying to see him fight. I do not think it really matters who Canelo faces. His loyal boxing fans likely will pay to see him fight almost anybody, including much smaller fighters like Kell Brook, Timothy Bradley or Shawn Porter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC_IVHCgpqc

It is unlikely that Golden Boy will put Canelo in against any talented junior middleweights like Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade, not after the narrow escape that Canelo had in his fight against Erislandy Lara last year. Canelo appeared to lose that fight and was fortunate to get a controversial decision. Lara could have outright won the fight if he had stepped on the gas in the second half of the fight in the championship rounds.



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