By Allan Fox: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin isn’t too interested in discussing a fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez after he failed to face him in 2016. Golovkin says he’s tired of the 26-year-old Canelo’s talking, and now sees the Golden Boy Promotions fighter as a “sailfish.” In other words, a big game fish that is very hard to catch.
Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs says he’s still interested in facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. if he comes out of retirement in the near future. Golovkin says he’ll come down to 154 to fight Mayweather. Golvokin is currently weighing 165 for his March 18 fight against WBA World middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) on HBO PPV at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Asked about his opinion of Mayweather’s hoped for fight against UFC fighter Conor McGregor, Golovkin says it’s a “business fight” and one that will help Mayweather’s record.
“I’m not too big. 30 days before the fight, I’m 165,” said Golovkin to ESPN’s First Take. “Yesterday after sparring, I was 164. For Floyd, I’ll go to 154 if he wants. This is a dream fight. There is a big difference between Floyd and Canelo. Floyd is the best pound-for-pound. Canelo, he’s nothing. I talked to him just last year. ‘I want this fight. I need this fight.’ It’s too much. I’m tired of this talking too much last year. I not respect because he’s like a sailfish,” said Golovkin about Canelo,” said Golovkin.
Golovkin doesn’t need Canelo for him to be a star. It might be a better idea for Golovkin to focus on his own career at middleweight, and put Canelo out of his mind. If Canelo ever decides that he wants to fight Golovkin for one of his belts, then maybe the fight can happen if Golovkin is given the purse split that he wants. But for Golovkin to accept a flat fee offer without getting a split of the revenue, it doesn’t make sense for him.
If Golovkin hastily accepts the offer made by Golden Boy for a fight against Canelo, they might wind up being sorry they did. It’s probably better for Golovkin not to come across as too needy when it comes to the Canelo fight. If he wants that fight too much, he’ll wind up losing out on a lot of money by accepting an offer that isn’t a good deal for him. Golden Boy is obviously going to use their A-side power to get a great deal for them and Canelo at Golovkin’s expense.
Canelo is the fight that Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler is hoping to make for him in September. That fight is still very uncertain, because there’s a lot of things that will need to fall in place before the fight can happen. Golovkin and Canelo will both need to win their next fights. Canelo’s promoter Oscar De Ls Hoya is saying that if his May 6 fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is an exciting one, then he’ll make a rematch between them in September. That was when Golovkin was supposed to be fighting Canelo.
De La Hoya would move Golovkin off the fight, and put Chavez Jr. in his place. That means that De La Hoya views Chavez Jr. as the better fight for Canelo in terms of business. Lastly, Golovkin will need to accept the offer that De La Hoya has given him. Canenlo said last week that Golovkin can accept the offer or not. Canelo didn’t seem too bothered if Golovkin turned the fight down or not. Canelo’s attitude about the Golovkin fight suggests that he won’t lose any sleep if he doesn’t fight him. When you have that kind of attitude, then it’s going to be very hard for the Golovkin fight to ever take place.
“This is time. Every fight is difficult, and every fighter is different,” said Golovkin. “Right now my focus is on Daniel Jacobs. I understand 100 percent. This is my big fight and my huge fight. I like this fight, and I like this situation. I remember last year, too much talking,” said Golovkin about Saul Canelo Alvarez. “Right now, my focus is on Daniel Jacobs. If he wants [to fight], of course, I’m ready 100 percent. Daniel is a huge fighter. He’s a good boxer. He has power, and boxing IQ. This is big test for us, and for me. We have different styles. Daniel, he’s strong and a very good fighter. I have a little bit extra,” said Golovkin.
Golovkin’s fight against Jacobs hasn’t attracted the same kind of attention that Canelo’s fight against Chavez Jr. has for some reason.
Perhaps the boxing public will start to show more interest as the fight draws nearer. There’s less than 3 weeks to go before the Golovkin vs. Jacobs fight. The news about the match should start filtering through to the casual boxing fans in the next couple of weeks. This Saturday on March 4, HBO Sports will be televising ‘24/7 Golovkin/Jacobs’ special. That should attract a lot of interest from the fans.
When asked why he doesn’t move up to 168 to fight Andre Ward, Golovkin said, “I’m not too big for 160, as I told you. My weight is 165 just 30 days before the fight. It was 164 yesterday. 160 is very good. 154 is a very good category for me. 168 or 175, yeah, for a big fight or big money fights, of course,” said Golovkin.
There’s no point in taking about Goovkin vs. Andre Ward right now. Ward has unfinished business with former IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev that he needs to take care of before he can start considering fights against other guys like Golovkin. Ward is also talking about retirement. I think the Ward ship has sailed. Ward did not look good in beating Kovalev by a controversial 12 round decision last November. Ward spent most of the time wrestling Kovalev, and it appeared that he didn’t have the youth or the skills to beat him in a normal fight. Golovkin’s situation is different. He’s still in his prime, and one of the most exciting fighters in the sport. If Golovkin does move up to light heavyweight in the future, it would need to be against a solid champion that the fans admire and want to see Golovkin fight him.
“There’s not too much interest in this fight. It’s for commercial,” said Golovkin to ESPN’s First Take about the Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight. “It’s business fight. It’s very good for Floyd’s record.”
Mayweather is still talking about the McGregor fight, but at some point it’s going to become a joke if the fight still hasn’t been made. Mayweather should probably stop talking about the McGregor fight, because you don’t want the boxing public to view you as someone that talks about things that are never going to happen.