By Dan Ambrose: Last weekend, IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin traveled to the UK with his promoter Tom Loeffler to watch a football game at West Ham.
While it might not have been a big deal if Golovkin had taken the trip alone or with family members, it was a little peculiar that he went over there with his promoter Loeffler. This has more than a few boxing fans speculating that the reason for Golovkin’s visit to the UK was to line up a fight with either WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders, who Golovkin was previously in negotiations with for a unfiicaiton fight, or a fight against #1 WBA Chris Eubank Jr.
Either of those fights would be excellent match-ups for Golovkin’s next fight on April 23 on HBO. Eubank Jr. has already said that he sees flaws in Golovkin’s game that he thinks he can exploit. It would be arguably better for Eubank Jr. to take the fight with Golovkin now rather than face WBA “regular” champion Daniel Jacobs, who Eubank Jr. is the mandatory challenger for.
If Golovkin fights Saunders, it would likely take place in an outdoor stadium. This is why a trip to the UK would be a smart thing for Loeffler and Golovkin to do, because it would give them the chance to scout out the different stadiums and meet up with the British promoters for one of these two fighters.
Saunders would be the top target that Golovkin and Loeffler would be looking to fight because he’s the holder of the WBO middleweight title and Golovkin prizes that title. He wants to add it to his collection of belts. If Golovkin can’t get a fight against Saunders, then it makes a lot of sense for him to fight Eubank Jr., because that’s a fight that would interest a lot of boxing fans in the U.S, and it would please HBO to put a fight like that on.
Eubank Jr. would be the best option for Golovkin to take if he can’t get a fight against Saunders for a unification fight. It makes sense for Eubank Jr. to take the fight with Golovkin now, because it would be better for him to lose to Golovkin than it would be for him to get beaten by Jacobs.
There’s a chance that Eubank Jr. could pull off an upset and beat Jacobs, but judging by how Eubank Jr. looked in his last fight against Gary O’Sullivan last December, I think Eubank Jr. would lose badly to Jacobs.
O’Sullivan is little more than a bottom fringe contender in terms of talent, and yet he was able to stagger Eubank Jr. a couple of times early in the fight. If O’Sullivan hadn’t stopped punching, he probably would have gotten a knockout. It’s better for Eubank Jr. to take the fight with Golovkin now rather than face Jacobs and get beaten by him.
Golovkin will be fighting on April 23 in what amounts to be a warmup fight to get him ready for what promises to be a much tougher assignment against WBC champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in September this year. Saunders or Eubank Jr. would be great warmup fights for Golovkin to get him ready for a real test against Canelo.
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