By Dan Ambrose: Gennady “GGG” Golovkin took another scalp last Saturday night in beating number #2 middleweight Daniel Jacobs, and now he’s angry and ready to beat Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Golovkin wants the Canelo fight in the worst way after pursuing the fight with the Golden Boy Promotions star with no luck.
Golovkin and Canelo could take place in September, but it’s still very much uncertain. Golovkin was almost sidetracked by Jacobs due to their fight being a close one. Golovkin won by a 12 round unanimous decision, but it was close at the end. The difference between them was Golovkin’s 4th round knockdown of Jacobs.
“Of course, I’m ready. I’m hungry. I want this fight,” said Golovkin when asked by Max Kellerman if he’s interested in fighting Canelo Alvarez. “For this fight, I’m very mad. I’m like an animal for this fight,” said Golovkin.
Golovkin seems to be very, very angry at Canelo for him taking so long to finally face him. Golovkin sounds like he wants to tear Canelo apart when he eventually gets him inside the ring. Golovkin sounds annoyed and quite irritable each time Canelo’s name is mentioned to him in interviews by the boxing media. Golovkin wants to beat Canelo and show the world that he’s the better fighter. It takes two to tango though. Until Canelo and Golden Boy decide that they’re ready for the Golovkin fight, GGG is going to need to wait.
Golovkin’s close win over Jacobs was a good first step in him getting the Canelo fight. With Golovkin looking less than lethal against Jacobs, it might increase the chances for Canelo and Golden Boy to finally agree to fight him. Another thing that we’ll have to see is the Golovkin-Jacobs pay-per-view numbers on HBO. If the amount of buys are respectable in the 300K range, then that should greatly help Golovkin get the fight, because Golden Boy might be more inclined to give GGG a better offer and a split of the revenue for the fight.
In the best possible world, Golovkin-Jacobs will bring in over 600,000 buys on HBO. That would really show that Golovkin has become a big name in the boxing world. It’s doubtful though that the fight will bring in those kinds of buys, because Jacobs isn’t a big name and doesn’t have a large fan base.
Canelo has to win his fight on May 6 against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and there’s no guarantee he’s going to win that fight. Chavez Jr. is a tough opponent, and he’s already got his weight down to close to the 164.5 pound catch-weight for the fight. Golden Boy Promotions might have made a mistake by electing not to drain Chavez Jr. even more by asking him to agree to an even stricter catch-weight. If they could have gotten Chavez Jr. to agree one of Canelo’s favorite catch-weights at 155 pounds, they would have a real advantage over him.
164.5 might not be a tough enough catch-weight to weaken Chavez Jr. enough for Canelo to win. Chavez Jr. has had the ability to make 168 for years, but he clearly wasn’t motivated enough to consistently get his weight down. But for the Canelo fight, Chavez Jr. is highly motivated because he wants to beat him and show that he’s the better of the two Mexican stars.
Golovkin vs. Jacobs wasn’t a very exciting fight unfortunately. You can blame that on all the movement that Jacobs was using in the fight. He was in constant motion throughout the fight, and almost totally unwilling to engage.