By Tim Fletcher: Trainer Abel Sanchez says that there absolutely will not be a catch-weight for a fight between his fighter IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) and WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) for later this year in September.
Sanchez says that Golovkin will not be fighting Canelo at 155lb catch-weight, period. Sanchez says that the World Boxing Council rules that are in place says Canelo has 15 days to agree to the fight after the two of them fight their interim fights. Sanchez says the WBC’s rules say nothing about a 155lb catch-weight division.
Sanchez says Golovkin will not agree to fight Canelo at a catch-weight of 155lbs no matter what they offer him. The fight will take place at 160. If Canelo chooses to say no to a fight at the full weight of 160lbs, then Sanchez expects the WBC to move in and strip Canelo of his middleweight title. In Sanchez’s view, Canelo is “Diva” for the things that he’s done with the catch-weight fights at middleweight. He thinks it’s a dishonor to the middleweight champions of the past to have a middleweight champion like Canelo fighting at catch-weights.
The definition of Diva from urbandictionary.com is “A [expletive] woman that must have her way exactly, or no way at all, often rude and belittles people, believes that everyone is beneath her and thinks that she is so much more loved than what she really is; selfish, spoiled, and overly dramatic.”
It’s unclear what part of the definition of Diva that Sanchez sees Canelo following.
“Under the agreement that we have, the WBC has in place, which I have a copy of, Canelo has 15 days to say yes or no, ‘I want the fight,’” Sanchez said to Fighthub.com. “Once he says yes or no, he has 30 days for a free negotiation period between the two camps. If they don’t come to terms, then it goes to a purse bid. Under the WBC rules, the WBC rules doesn’t have a 155lb weight division.
It’s 160 pound weight division. So it goes to the WBC rules and the splits are according to the WBC rules after the purse bid. We’re fighting for a 160lb title. There’s not going to be a 155lb catch-weight. It’s not. It doesn’t matter what he offers. It’s not going to be at 155. It’s going to be at 160. Now, if the fight were to happen once Gennady was the champion, and they came to us and they wanted to negotiate something, not Golovkin is the champion. Then there’s negotiations that could be possible. But for this belt, it has to be at 160lbs. It doesn’t matter to me. If the Diva [Canelo] doesn’t fight us, it doesn’t matter. I’m serious. Because of the catch-weight and all the things that not only him and [Miguel] Cotto have been doing to insult all the 160lb champions of the past. If he [Canelo] doesn’t fight us, then strip him. Golovkin can become the champion. That’s one step closer to becoming the unified champion,” said Sanchez.
It’s going to be tough on Golovkin if the WBC steps in and gives Canelo his way in forcing the 155lb catch-weight on Golovkin if the two of them are unable to agree on a weight for the fight. Where I disagree with Sanchez is his view of fight absolutely needing to take place at 160. I don’t think the Canelo-Golovkin fight will take place at that weight until Canelo decides that he wants it to take place at that weight.
If Golovkin, Sanchez and promoter Tom Loeffler try and force the fight to take place at 160, they’re either going to cause Canelo to vacate his WBC title or the WBC will step in and side with Canelo in having the fight take place at 155. That’s why it’s better that Sanchez and Golovkin agree ahead of time to take the fight at 155 rather than force something that’s only going to lead to unhappiness for them.
Canelo has the power whether they want to realize that or not. He’s not going to be forced into fighting them at 160, especially with the way that Sanchez is talking now. It’s just going to lead to Canelo either vacating the WBC title or the WBC stepping in and saying that Canelo can force the 155lb catch-weight on Golovkin.
There’s a hierarchy here that Sanchez doesn’t seem to be aware of. Canelo is at the top, given his popularity, and Golovkin is well below him. If Sanchez doesn’t want to accept that, then he and Golovkin are going to wind up without the Canelo fight and possibly not even a shot at the WBC title. The WBC can make up their own rules as they go along, and they might just decide to shut Golovkin out if he chooses not to agree to the 155lb catch-weight. Golovkin needs to wake up and see what time it is before it’s too late. He doesn’t hold the cards in the Canelo equation.
Golovkin just needs to agree to the 155lb catch-weight that Canelo wants. One of these days, Golovkin might be able to become popular enough to throw his weight around, but for now, he’s not able to do that with Canelo. That’s just the way it is. Canelo is the new Floyd Mayweather Jr. It would be helpful if Golovkin and his management and training team realize that right now before they mess things up with the negotiations for the fight. If all Canelo wants is a catch-weight of 155lbs, then they should agree to it happily and be glad that he’s not asking for something else. Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya recently mentioned a purse split of 90-10 in Canelo’s favor that he’d like to have if it were to up to him. That obviously isn’t going to happen, but you can imagine that the money will be tilted steeply in favor of the more popular Canelo. But if Golovkin and his management can’t even agree to a simple 155lb catch-weight that Canelo wants, then the fight will probably never take place. It seems to me to be a small concession that Canelo is asking for. Golovkin needs to agree to it before it’s too late.
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