By Dan Ambrose: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) plans on fighting in August or September with or without Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs), according to Triple G’s promoter Tom Loeffler. Canelo and his promoters at Golden Boy promotions are tied up with a civil trial in Florida at this time with promoter Tuto Zabala involving a promotional issue with Canelo.
Zabala was previously Canelo’s promoter until he moved on and signed with Golden Boy. Golovkin wants to fight in August or September, and he’s not going to wait for Canelo if he chooses to drag his feet. Golovkin wants to stay busy.
Canelo’s trail is expected to conclude next week. However, even if it does finish up, Canelo and Golden Boy will need to show that they’re seriously interested in negotiating the fight with Golovkin, because he’s not going to let the negotiations drag on for months and months.
Canelo, 25, has age on his side, so he can drag negotiations for years without it hurting him. The 34-year-old Golovkin can’t afford to stay out of the ring for a long period of time waiting on Canelo.
“Whether Canelo fights GGG or not, we are planning a fight in August or September for GGG,” said Loeffler to espn.com.
Canelo can’t negotiate while the trial is underway with Zabala. Never the less, even when Canelo’s trail concludes, there’s no guarantees that fight will get made between him and Golovkin. For instance, if Canelo and Golden Boy decides to give Golovkin a take it or leave it offer of fighting at a catch-weight of 155lbs and a purse split of 90-10, then you can assume that they’re not serious about wanting the fight.
By pushing Golovkin to dehydrate himself to 155 and offering a lopsided purse split, it would be a big hint that they don’t want the fight. If Golovkin agrees to all of these things, he would be putting himself at a huge disadvantage, and I’m not sure that he’s going to be willing to make that kind of risk. I think Golovkin would take the risk if he were 25, and capable of draining down to 155 or whatever weight Canelo wanted him to drain down to.
Loeffler has a good potential Plan-B option for August or September with a fight against #2 WBA, #3 WBC middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr. His promoter Eddie Hearn says negotiations are underway right now between them. It’s a fight that will and can be made due to the high interest on Eubank Jr’s and his dad Chris Eubank Sr’s side. They believe they have the secret to beat Golovkin.
“We’re negotiating for September or October,” said Hearn to IFL TV about negotiations between Eubank Jr. and Golovkin. “It’s a stadium right [in UK]. It’s a much bigger fight for him financially [than Billy Joe Saunders].“
That would be a good money fight for Golovkin to stay busy while Canelo and Golden Boy decide whether they’re up to it in facing Golovkin. If they decide they’re going to wait until he’s an old man before they make the fight, then so be it. Golovkin will still have a lot of punching power even if they wait until he’s 40-years-old before they make the fight. The problem with waiting is that Canelo will be expected to fight the top junior middleweights like the Charlo brothers.
If Canelo is going to keep insisting that he’s not a middleweight, then he’ll have just as much pressure on him to fight the Charlo brothers as he does to fight Golovkin, because the Charlo brothers are seen by many boxing fans as the best fighters in the 154lb division. But even if Canelo chooses to ignore them, the fans will want him to fight Erislandy Lara again and Demetrius Andrade.
There’s talk that Canelo won’t fight any of those guys for his next fight. Instead, he’ll go the soft route by taking on WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith, a fighter that some boxing fans see as paper champion. Canelo will be able to burn up one fight against Smith, but he won’t be able to keep fighting Smith for the next five to six years waiting for Golovkin to age enough for him to be beaten.
Yeah, Canelo can face Miguel Cotto in a rematch, but he can’t keep fighting over and over again. Canelo will have to face the Charlo brothers, Andrade, Lara and Julian Williams. Canelo is boxed in. He can’t escape very dangerous fights by hiding his head in the ground like an ostrich. If Canelo stays at 154, he will face intense pressure to fight the Charlos. I think those guys would have an excellent chance of beating Canelo because they’ve got the size, power and boxing skills to dominate him like Mayweather did.
Canelo would be better off if he faced Golovkoin now because even if he lost to him, he wouldn’t take as much criticism as he will if/when he gets beaten by the Charlo brothers, Andrade and Julian Williams.