Sulaiman: Canelo-Golovkin loser will have future opportunities

By Boxing News - 05/10/2016 - Comments

Image: Sulaiman: Canelo-Golovkin loser will have future opportunitiesBy Patrick McHugh: It’s very difficult to believe that Golden Boy Promotions will let their prized Golden goose Saul “Canelo” Alvarez really face interim WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in this next fight. World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman has said this past week that he will enforce the agreement the two fighters have in place for the two of them to fight each other for the WBC middleweight title that is currently in Canelo’s possession.

If Canelo decides he wants no part of fighting Golovkin because he won’t agree to the offer that is made to him, then Canelo will need to vacate the WBC title or else it’ll be stripped from him.

Sulaiman feels that even the loser of the Canelo-Golovkin fight will still come out of the fight without the loss harming their career. That might not be the case if Golovkin extends his knockout streak to 23 by knocking Canelo out in just as bad a manner as Canelo did against the bulked up welterweight Amir “King” Khan last Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Khan feels he came out of the fight smelling like a rose because he had gotten the better of Canelo in the first four rounds. However, the way Khan ended up losing the fight made him look bad and it likely didn’t help his career. If Canelo gets knocked out badly by Golovkin, I see it as a negative despite what Sulaiman says.

“If it’s a really good fight, even the loser will win, with opportunities for the future,” said Sulaiman to wbcboxing.com. “Canelo was very clear saying he wants the fight and right away, so it’s a matter of the promoters making it.”

We’re going to see how badly Canelo wants the fight with Golovkin. If we hear that Canelo has given Golovkin a take it or leave it offer to fight him at 155, then you would have to assume that Canelo doesn’t want the fight. Canelo has the punching power to win the fight against Golovkin, but he doesn’t have the kind of power that the Kazakhstan fighter possesses.

Canelo doesn’t have the jab either, and he’s going to be in a world of hurt if Golovkin decides to stay on the outside and pick him apart for seven or eight rounds until he starts to bust up. Golovkin softened David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens up with his jabs from the outside before going for the kill in the later rounds. Neither guy could handle it and were stopped.

“It’s unlikely. I’ve seen both of them fight and they are of the highest quality. It’s ready, it’s time. It’s cooking!” said Sulaiman about the possibility of the Canelo vs. Golovkin fight going the distance.

Golovkin and Canelo’s management have two weeks to negotiate the fight between the two warriors. A purse bid will be ordered on May 24 by the WBC if the two teams are unable to reach an agreement by that date. That doesn’t mean we’re going to see a fight between them, because Canelo could simply give up the WBC title and move on towards a safer target like Miguel Cotto or even another welterweight like Tim Bradley, who has expressed interest in wanting to fight Canelo.

“You never know what can happen. But it has all the elements to be an absolute and an instant classic,” said Sulaiman.