(Photo credit: World Boxing Council) By Chris Williams: IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and his trainer Abel Sanchez both make it seem like their only focus is capturing the WBC middleweight title by any means necessary. By listening to them speak, you think they don’t care whether they face WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in order to win the belt. I don’t buy it.
Golovkin would have been more than happy to have gotten a golden gift fight by Floyd “Money” Mayweather before he retired. That fight would have done something for Golovkin’s career, to be sure. But we didn’t hear Golovkin saying the magic words to get the Mayweather fight.
Golovkin needed to say he was willing to fight Mayweather at 150 or 147, and he didn’t say he would be willing to fight with a rehydration clause to limit the weight he put back on. If Golovkin had volunteered to do those things, then I think Mayweather would have given him a fight.
I think it’s an act on their part. If Canelo vacates his WBC 160lb title if/when he beats Amir Khan on May 7, I think Golovkin and team are going to be completely lost, because I think they need the Canelo fight both for the money they would receive and for the surge in popularity they would receive.
If Canelo undermines Team Golovkin’s plan to fight for the WBC title by him vacating it first, then it’ll leave Golovkin in the same place he is right now. He would be making defenses against little known fighters that the boxing public has never heard of, and don’t particularly care about. Golovkin needs a fight against Canelo to make him a popular fighter. Without Canelo, Golovkin is no better off than he was when he was fighting guys like Osumanu Adama, Daniel Geale, Willie Monroe Jr., Martin Murray, and Nobuhiro Ishida.
Golovkin is really in the same boat former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko was in. He unified the heavyweight division in winning 3 of the 4 heavyweight titles, but he didn’t win over a lot of fans in the U.S because he was never involved interesting fights.
Wladimir spent too much time in Germany fighting guys like Jean Marc Mormeck instead of the dangerous fighters like Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz. By the time Wladimir was finally beaten by Tyson Fury last November, he had accomplished very little.
Wladimir never did become a star in the U.S, because he was facing weak opponents just like Golovkin. That’s why it doesn’t matter if Golovkin picks up all the titles at 160 or not. If he can’t get superstars like Mayweather and Canelo to fight him, then all he’ll be is a paper champion holding down worthless titles. What Golovkin should do is move up to super middleweight and try and get Andre Ward to fight him at a catch-weight of 172. I think Ward might do it if Golovkin and his promoter Tom Loeffler talk to him in a pleasing way.
I can’t see the history books being kind to Golovkin because he’s been picking up paper titles and not beating the best like Canelo and Daniel Jacobs to win those titles. Golovkin won’t be remembered like Bernard Hopkins was during his long reign as the middleweight unified champion, because he’s not facing the fighters that Hopkins faced.
There’s no reason for Canelo to fight Golovkin, because he brings nothing to the table. Golden Boy Promotions, the handlers for Canelo, would be doing him a good service to keep him moving on a different path than the Kazakhstan fighter. Canelo can make plenty money fighting other guys. He doesn’t need Golovkin. Golden Boy needs to let the Golovkin fight marinate until Golovkin is a big star. Right now it doesn’t make sense to make the fight. If Golovkin can become a bigger star over time, then I would see it as a wise move for Golden Boy to match Canelo with him. But right now, Golovkin isn’t a pay-per-view fighter, and doesn’t bring anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Canelo vs. Amir Khan fight brings in better numbers than a Canelo vs. Golovkin fight. The reason for that is because Khan is a big name, both in the U.S and in the UK. Khan is well spoken, blunt, and he speaks excellent English. He doesn’t just smile and say non controversial stuff the way Golovkin does.
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