De La Hoya: Golovkin vs. Canelo will get made in 2017

By Boxing News - 10/25/2016 - Comments

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By Dan Ambrose: Golden boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya told the boxing media this week that he is absolutely certain that the mega-fight between Golden Boy fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin will get made for 2017.

De La Hoya says he has no doubts the fight will happen. However, De La Hoya wasn’t willing to talk about the recent flat fee offer of $10 million that was made to Golovkin for the fight. De La Hoya said that he won’t discuss the negotiations on camera to the media, and that the negotiations would take place behind closed doors.

It was De La Hoya that was the one who told the media about the eight-figure offer made to Golovkin for the Canelo fight last month after Canelo’s 9th round knockout win over WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith on September 17. De La Hoya obviously had his reasons for telling boxing fans about the offer made to Golovkin at the time.

“The latest offer is the latest offer,” said De La Hoya to Fighthub.com about the Golovkin vs. Canelo negotiations. “We’re obviously not going to negotiate on camera. I am not going to talk about anything. This is a fight that has to be made, that must be made, and that WILL BE made. It’s just a matter of doing it behind closed doors. That’s the way it’s going to get done. Anybody else can talk about what they want to talk about, but the bottom line is Golden Boy and Canelo want to make this fight [against Golovkin] for 2017. I strongly feel it’s going to happen. At the end of the day, as long as the fight gets made that’s all that matters,” said De La Hoya.

Canelo will be fighting three times in 2017 against these potential opponents: Billy Joe Saunders, David Lemieux and Golovkin. It’s likely that Saunders and Lemieux will get fights against Canelo next year. The third name could come from the welterweight division with Tim Bradley or someone else being a possibility.

Unless an increase in the flat fee is made to Golovkin, I cannot see the fight against Canelo being made. It’s already that Golden Boy initially is only offering Golovkin a flat fee rather than a percentage of the revenue, which is what they want, but the offer is going to need to be increased for the fight to get made. Golovkin and his promoter Tom Loeffler aren’t going to agree to fight Canelo if they’re not going to share in the revenue they help generate.

De La Hoya’s mentioning of the eight-figure flat fee to Golovkin could be interpreted as a way to get the pressure off of Canelo, who has taken criticism from boxing fans for vacating his WBC middleweight title this year when ordered by the World Boxing Council to fight Golovkin. By De La Hoya telling the media that a fair offer was made to Golovkin for the Canelo fight, Golden Boy can say they tried to make the fight.

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