Canelo-Golovkin: They Better Get This One Right

By Boxing News - 05/08/2017 - Comments

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By Michael Montero — It’s official.

On September 16th, 2017 Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin will finally lock horns after circling around one another for two years. The venue has not been set, but the two leading contenders to land the bout are T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Canelo-Golovkin is the biggest fight that can be made in boxing at the moment, and easily the biggest fight since the Mayweather-Pacquiao debacle two years ago, but it will not be the first super-fight of 2017.

Just one week prior to Canelo’s dominant, yet largely disappointing, unanimous decision victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko put on a classic in front of 90,000 screaming fans at London’s Wembley Stadium. From start to finish, the Joshua-Klitschko promotion was conducted masterfully by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport. The fight was made official only moments after “AJ” disposed of American journeyman Eric Molina in a sold out Manchester Arena. Klitschko climbed into the ring during the post-fight interviews and an announcement was made directly to the crowd. Over the next four months, an international press tour that demanded tireless effort from both fighters and their management promoted the hell of the event. And it paid off. Not only did they sell out Wembley, but tens of millions of fans watched the bout live in over a hundred countries. Best of all, the fighters delivered in the ring, putting on one of the best high-profile fights in years. The torch was passed from the last great heavyweight to his heir apparent. The fans won. Boxing won.

Will Canelo-Golovkin go the way of Joshua-Klitschko, or will it follow the blueprint of Mayweather-Pacquiao and other money grabs of the past?

If there is any fight in boxing that could break the 90,000 attendance mark set by Joshua-Klitschko, it’s Canelo-GGG. However, the only logical venue in America that could hold such a massive crowd is AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, who just so happen to play on the road that week, play. The maximum capacity of the stadium with standing room is over 105,000. But this venue also makes sense due to location; a flight to Dallas from Canelo’s hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico takes less than three hours and costs under $300. The same is true for Mexico City to Dallas flights. American fight fans on both the east coast and west coast can get to Texas within a few hours with cheap flights as well. Further, Canelo has already fought at AT&T Stadium, punishing Liam Smith over nine rounds in front of a crowd of over 50,000 last September.

This is exactly the type of setting, the type of atmosphere, which is best for the future of boxing. The sport earned 90,000 fans April 29th in London; it could add another 100,000 this September in Texas as well. All the pieces are there, but the powers that be must position them accordingly.

For too long boxing has been streamlined to casinos where the average fan was priced out, the promoters and fighters have had tunnel vision focused solely on the bottom line. Gouging 20,000 “whales” into T-Mobile Arena on September 16th may set live gate revenue records, but will it move the sport forward?

Mayweather-Pacquiao served as an example of all that is wrong in the current state of boxing. Here’s hoping that Alvarez, Golovkin, and their management, see the bigger picture.

Michael Montero can be found on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at: @MonteroOnBoxing