By Jim Dower: IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) plans on getting back in the ring four months from now in September against the best available contender willing to fight him. His promoter Tom Loeffler would like to match the 33-year-old Golovkin against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Miguel Cotto in September, but he realizes that the odds of getting any of those fighters in the ring with Golovkin are pretty slim.
This means that Golovkin will have to be satisfied with fighting the best guy that has a good fighting style, and who HBO will agree to televise.
“We’d like to plan his [Golovkin] next fight for September,” Loeffler said to Fightnews.com. “Cotto has a tough fight for June, and we’re going to keep doing the same formula. We can’t wait on fights. If we can get Cotto in the ring, which Gennady is the mandatory for, that’s a great fight. Canelo, it looks like he wants to build that fight, which is great. It could be next year. You can’t force someone to fight. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing. The people come out regardless of who Gennady fights. September is the target date,” Loeffler said.
The options for Golovkin are pretty slim in the way of competition for his next fight unless Cotto or Canelo agree to fight him. These are the fighters that Loeffler will likely pick from in selecting his next opponent:
Jermall Charlo
Jorge Sebastian Heiland
Tureano Johnson
Billy Joe Saunders
Sergio Mora
Chris Eubank Jr.
David Lemieux
Hassan N’Dam
John Ryder
Matt Korobov
Dominic Wade
Antoine Douglas
Tony Jeter
Les Sherrington
Dmitry Chudinov
Many of those fighters will likely not agree to fight a guy like Golovkin because of him being so good. Eubank Jr., Ryder, Lemieux, N’Dam, Saunders and Charlo likely won’t agree to face Golovkin. Of the remaining bunch, Tureano Johnson would appear to be the best choice due to his punching power and exciting fighting style. HBO would likely give the green light to a Golovkin-Johnson fight, even though Johnson hasn’t really redeemed himself after his knockout loss to Curtis Stevens. Johnson probably would have been a better fighter for Golovkin to have faced last Saturday night than the light hitting Monroe. Johnson would have made it a fight of it for as long as it lasts.
Eubank Jr. would be a good opponent for Golovkin due to his slick fighting style and his overconfidence. Eubank Jr. is similar to Monroe in that he believes he can beat anyone in the division. This would be a good chance for Eubank Jr. to prove his words.
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