(Photo credit: World Boxing Council) By Dan Ambrose: IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin’s next fight will be taking place in March or April rather than February or March, according to his promoter Tom Loeffler. It’s unclear why the delay, but it’s likely due to the time spent by Team Golovkin’s management in trying to setup a fight against WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 36 KOs).
They’re been working on the negotiations for a month now, and it was only today that the World Boxing Council decided to let Canelo fight a voluntary defense next May rather than face Golovkin.
If Golovkin were to fight in February, his opponent would have very little time to train for the fight once the negotiations were completed. The same thing if he were to fight in March. It makes more sense for Golovkin to reload and come back for April against his IBF mandatory challenger Tureano Johnson.
“Per Tom Loeffler, GGG’s next fight will be March/April rather than Feb/March as originally planned. #Canelo-GGG #boxing,” Dan Rafael said on his Twitter.
The Golovkin vs. Canelo fight should easily surpass the pay-per-view numbers for the recent Canelo vs. Miguel Cotto fight. That is not a knock on Cotto, because he is a very good fighter, but there’s just so much interest in the Golovkin-Canelo fight that it’s not even funny. One of the reasons why there is so much interest is because boxing fans believe that Golovkin can beat Canelo, and beat him with ease. There are many Canelo fans who are skeptical about that, and they want to see him knock Golovkin down a peg and hand him his first loss of his career
Loeffler agreed with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman and Golden Boy Promotions promoter Eric Gomez today that Canelo and Golovkin should get in one fight before they face each other in the second half of 2016 in September. The fight will likely come on the Mexican Independence Day holiday. This is perfect for Golovkin, because he has many Mexican boxing fans, and many of them will be interested in seeing him fight.
Sulaiman said that the interim fights for both fighters were given “so as to maximize the interest in their highly anticipated showdown,” according to ESPN. The WBC gave Canelo an extension in the negotiations last Friday with a deadline extended to Monday. It was today that the WBC chose not to strip Canelo, and instead they said he could take a voluntary defense.
At this point, an interim fight for Golovkin and Canelo will not do much in increasing the interest for their mega-fight in September of next year. The only way it will increase the interest is if both guys fight on the same card against someone reason good. Since it’s looking like Golovkin will be facing Tureano Johnson, and Canelo against a likely welterweight, I do not think either fighter is going to build the fight up any.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC_IVHCgpqc
If Golovkin takes on Tureano Johnson, he would be taking the riskier opponent than Canelo if his promoter puts him in with a welterweight like Tim Bradley or Amir Khan. It would be a real eye-opener if Canelo took a risky opponent like Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade from the 154lb division for his next fight rather than lighter welterweight like the ones his promoter Oscar De La Hoya has been talking about wanting to match against him.
For Canelo, this will be his second defense of his WBC middleweight title. He’ll have his first defense in May of next year against likely a lighter welterweight. Golovkin is the WBC interim middleweight champion.
If Canelo can win this fight, he would be an even bigger star than he is right now, and would start to become a crossover star like Oscar De La Hoya. But that’s easier said than done, because Golovkin is the bigger puncher, the better skilled fighter, and the guy that is widely recognized as the best fighter in the 160lb division. Canelo is the new kid on the block in moving up to middleweight, and he seems to be still bashful about fighting at the full weight for the 160lb division.
It’s unknown if Canelo’s trepidation are due to him feeling afraid of fighting guys that are bigger than what he’s become accustomed to in the past, or if he’s someone who likes to get an advantage over all of his opponents. It doesn’t quite make sense for Canelo to be asking for a catch-weight, however, when he weighs more than Golovkin does after he rehydrates for his fights.
“Canelo just made 155 with no problem,” Golden Boy promoter Eric Gomez said to ESPN.com. “[The weight] is hard to discuss right now. We both agreed to do voluntary fights. After, we will sit down like gentlemen and negotiate everything.”
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