By Dan Ambrose: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) could be facing IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) in a fight in the summer in the UK if both fighters win their next fights. Saunders’ promoter Frank Warren is saying that a fight between Saunders and Golovkin is possible if Saunders wins his next fight against #11 WBO challenger Max Bursak (32-4-1, 15 KOs) on April 30 at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK.
Golovkin has a fight he needs to win first as well against Dominic Wade (18-0, 12 KOs) on April 23 at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Golovkin is expected to win that fight without any troubles at all.
The same goes for Saunders’ fight against Bursak on 4/30. The only real question is will Saunders then face Golovkin after he gets past Bursak? It would be a major disappointment if Saunders turns around and continues to face fighters in the class of Bursak and opts not to fight Golovkin.
“Get me Golovkin!. he has asked repeatedly and I have told him this is what I am now determined to do once he has disposed of the battle-hardened Ukrainian ‘Mad Max’ Bursak whom the undefeated Hatfield southpaw meets in his first defence,” said Warren via frankwarren.com. “Bill is well aware it is essential he beats Bursak in style and look a million dollars doing it, if the Kazakh cruncher is to remain in his sights.”
Golovkin really wants the WBO middleweight title that is in Saunders’ possession. Golovkin sees the WBO title as an important one for him, because he wants to collect all the titles before he possibly moves up a weight class. Saunders is in a great position to bargain given the interest that Golovkin has in fighting him. Golovkin’s desire to win all of the middleweight titles plays against him, because it means he’ll likely need to overpay for a fight against Saunders.
Normally, a fight against Saunders would be meaningless for Golovkin if Saunders didn’t have the WBO title. Saunders isn’t a big star in the U.S., he’s not well known in the U.S, and he’s not seen as a particularly talented fighter in the eyes of a lot of fans. There are some fans who think Saunders is a great fighter, but there aren’t too many that put him in the class of Golovkin and Canelo.
“Obviously a Golovkin fight is a football stadium production so it can’t happen until one becomes available in the summer,” said Warren. “With Canelo Alvarez now facing Amir Khan in May I doubt a mooted showdown between the Mexican and Golovkin is going on for this year. If at all.”
It’ll be great if Golovkin can get the fight against Saunders that he so badly wants. However, I would still be very surprised if the fight takes place because I can see Saunders choosing to milk his WBO title for a little while longer before he eventually takes the fight with Golovkin. There’s just too many easy title-milking contenders in the World Boxing Organization’s top 15 ranking for Saunders to fight. I can’t see him being able to face Golovkin in such a risky fight.
Comments are closed.