By Scott Gilfoid: Well, I hate to say I told you so but I predicted that IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin would wind up spinning his wheels in looking to get a unification fight against Billy Joe Saunders for early this year. After a report from last week that Golovkin’s management had given Saunders a “firm” offer that was being considered, we’re now hearing that Golovkin’s management are starting to feel that Saunders isn’t serious about wanting the fight.
Saunders is on vacation now, and it’s unclear when he’s going to be coming back. He got a nice payday last November from his win over WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee, so he’s in no hurry to come off of vacation to consider a fight against Golovkin.
Before going on vacation, Saunders told the media that he had no interest in facing Golovkin unless he got a huge offer. The money that Saunders wanted was 4 million pounds, which is over $6 million in U.S dollars. For a fighter that is an unknown in the U.S, it’s crazy money that Saunders wants. I can’t imagine the offer from Golovkin’s management being anywhere near the huge cash that Saunders is asking for.
I think Golovkin and his management need to go in a different direction and forget all about a fight against Saunders. Further, I doubt that Saunders will want anything to do with Golovkin in 18 months from now like he says. If Saunders still has the WBO title in 18 months, which is possible because I see him being matched carefully, it’s extremely doubtful that Saunders will want to fight Golovkin at that time.
I see Saunders continuing to want big money for a fight against Golovkin, and the kind of money that Saunders wants does not exist for him in a fight like that. Saunders seems to want the kind of money that superstars get. Heck, I don’t even think Saunders is a star in his own country of the UK. Yeah, he’s got a few fans, but he’s not on the level of a Carl Froch or Kell Brook. He’s just some light-hitting guys with a few fans and some stamina issues.
My advice to Team Golovkin is to forget all about Saunders forever, because the only way I see Golovkin getting a shot at the WBO belt is once Saunders gets beaten by one of the contenders. Even then, I think it’ll take a lot of money for Golovkin to get a shot at that title.
Instead of Golovkin worrying about winning all the titles in the middleweight division in a pointless attempt to somehow validate his career, he needs to fight the best guys he can each time. Sorry, I don’t rate Saunders, and I don’t respect him as a champion.
To me, Saunders is little more than a paper champion who just finished beating another paper champion in Andy Lee. Golovkin should just fight Tureano Johnson, his IBF mandatory challenger, next and go from there to a possible fight against WBC middleweight champion Saul Canelo Alvarez. I think Tureano is a better fighter than Saunders, and about as well-known as him in the States. In other words, Tureano is an unknown just like Saunders is in the U.S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC_IVHCgpqc
Golovkin and his team should just put Saunders on ignore, because I see him doing little more than trying to get attention by name dropping Golovkin’s name without having serious interest in fighting him. It’s not worth trying to get a fight against someone that has no real interest in fighting you. Let Saunders stay in his own lane with the WBO title, fighting the contenders that the WBO has ranked.
My guess is we’re going to see Saunders fighting Lee again, then Chris Eubank, and then Tommy Langford. However, as soon as Saunders fights #2 WBO Arif Magomedov, I see him losing that fight. I also think Hugo Centeno, the #3 WBO contender, will be Saunders too. The WBO has some decent contenders ranked in their top 15. Saunders will be fine when he’s facing the bottom feeders for voluntary defenses, but if he tries to get some money fights against quality fighters, I see him losing. He’s just not a very good fighter in my view.
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