Joe Cortez thinks Canelo should fight Golovkin in 2017

By Boxing News - 02/13/2016 - Comments

Image: Joe Cortez thinks Canelo should fight Golovkin in 2017(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) By Dan Ambrose: Former referee Joe Cortez doesn’t think that it’s a good time right now for WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) to face unbeaten IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) this year. Cortez sees Golovkin as a dangerous fight for the 25-year-old Canelo, and he thinks it would be better for the Mexican fighter to wait until 2017 before thinking of sharing the ring with the soon to be 34-year-old Golovkin.

Cortez thinks that Canelo has a lot of options available to him to make millions right now, and a fight against Golovkin would be just too risky to take right now. In other words, Canelo should duck Golovkin and take easier options is what Cortez seems to be saying.

Canelo has a fight against welterweight Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) on May 7 on HBO pay-per-view. With Canelo fighting welterweights like Khan and fighting at a catch-weight at 155, it makes him look like he’s someone who is taking the easy path with his career. If Canelo loses to Khan, it’s going to ruin any chances of a fight between Canelo and Golovkin in the future.

“I think Golovkin would like that fight at any time, either now or next year, but I think people ‘Canelo’ is not running from ‘GGG’, but is thinking a little smarter,” Cortez said to izquierdazo.com. “They do not want to risk a dangerous fight [with Golovkin] right now knowing that they have options for millions. Canelo is young and does not see any rush to face Gennady. It is best to wait until 2017,” said Cortez.

It’s going to make Canelo look bad in the eyes of the boxing public if he ducks Golovkin now, because the World Boxing Council already said that the two fighters can take an interim fight before initiating negotiations afterwards. If Canelo chooses to vacate his WBC middleweight title rather than fighting Golovkin, it’s going to make him look weak in the eyes of the knowledgeable fight fans that follow the sport. The Casual fans of course wouldn’t know about Canelo ducking Golovkin because they don’t follow the sport well enough to know what’s going on.

The problem with Canelo and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions waiting until 2017 is that Golovkin will very likely be just as good then as he is now. Golovkin is not going to age that much in the course of a year. If the idea is to wait Golovkin out until he becomes an old man and can then be beaten by Canelo, I think it’s a stupid idea.

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Instead of Cortez talking one year, he needs to be talking 5 to 7 years, because it might take that long for Golovkin to age to the point where Canelo can beat him. But the problem with waiting that long is that Canelo is likely going to wind up in the light heavyweight division in another five years, and won’t be able to make 160 even if he dehydrated himself to the point of sickness. Canelo is already ballooning up to the mid-170s now, and possibly even in the 180s.

If Canelo waits until Golovkin is in his 40s, he probably won’t be able to fight him anyway due to Canelo’s weight increasing as he gets older. I’m not sure what Canelo has been eating lately, but he’s been getting bigger and I see that continuing to happen.



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