By Jeff Aranow: IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) needs an impressive performance in his fight against challenger Dominic Wade (18-0, 12 KOs) on April 23 to help increase interest in a summer fight against WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders, because the British are going to be watching Golovkin’s fight against Wade on BoxNation.
I know that Golovkin would like to fight WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez next, but that fight cannot happen until later this year in September possibly. Canelo has a fight on May 7 against Amir Khan, and after that fight, Canelo will want to rest and take it easy for a number of months while he heals up.
Golovkin isn’t the type to rest after his fight against Wade. He’s going to want to stay busy and take the unification fight against Saunders if it’s there.
Saunders has to win his next scheduled fight on April 30 against Max Bursak at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK. Bursak is a voluntary defense for Saunders, and he’s not expected to have any problems beating him. This is just a soft defense for Saunders.
Saunders is talking very positive about wanting the Golovkin fight in the summer in a stadium. If he’s serious about wanting the fight, then it’ll be a nice second fight for the year for Gennady. The Wade fight isn’t nearly as interesting, but Golovkin has no other choice but to take the fight due to Wade being his IBF mandatory. He’s technically the replacement IBF mandatory for Tureano Johnson, who suffered an injury in training camp. Tureano is arguably a much better fighter than Wade, and he would have been a real tough out for Golovkin if he’d not gotten injured in training.
Golovkin-Wade will be televised on HBO Championship Boxing on April 23 from the Forum in Inglewood, California.
The 25-year-old Wade has the bad luck of fighting Golovkin rather than one of the other champions because this is a bad match-up for someone as young as Wade. He needs more seasoning before he fights for a world title, and he’s not going to get it.
Wade is being thrown into the deep end of the pool without the skills and experience to tread water to keep himself afloat. Golovkin is going to be taking the fight to him from the first round, and he’s going to be very difficult for Wade to survive for long in this fight.
We’re not even talking about him winning because he doesn’t have much chance of doing that. Just surviving for 12 rounds against Golovkin would be a major accomplishment for Wade. I’m sure Wade wouldn’t admit it, but if he makes it to the final bell in the 12th round, it will be a major victory.
Wade earned the fight with Golovkin by beat Sam Soliman last year in June. Wade should have fought after that date, but he’s been inactive for the past eight months. It’s not a big deal for someone as young as the 25-year-old Wade to miss the kind of tie that he’s missed, but it’s still not ideal.
On the same card is WBC flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez defending his title against McWilliams Arroyo. This should be a great fight while it lasts. Gonzalez has big time power, but he’s easy to hit because he always goes for knockouts. Arroyo might be able to make it interesting before he eventually folds.
But on the same card as Golovkin, arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world Roman Gonzalez, the WBC World Flyweight Champion, will defend his title against McWilliams Arroyo.
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