By Dan Ambrose: After two months of negotiations, Tom Loeffler still doesn’t have a fight ironed out between his guy IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) and the Al Haymon managed WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs).
Loeffler is trying to work out a deal that makes both fighters happy. The original 75/25 mandated purse by the World Boxing Association is not agreeable on Jacobs’ side. He and his management want a bigger split. It’s up to Loeffler to see if he can find the right offer that Jacobs’ team will accept for the fight.
The target date for the Golovkin-Jacobs fight is in March or April 2017. They were supposed to have fought on December 10 on HBO Championship Boxing, but they were unable to make the deal. What’s not known is what will happen if a deal still isn’t made by April.
For Golovkin and Loeffler to continue to invest time in the negotiations with Jacobs’ team at that point might not be wise. They’ve already lost one payday by failing to fight in December. If they lose a second payday because of the stalled negotiations, then whatever money they make for the Jacobs fight won’t be a big deal given the money they’re losing by missing fight dates.
At some point, Golovkin’s team might need to think about moving on if the fight can’t get made. The magic question is which of the two fighters will have their titles stripped from them by the WBA. The WBA ordered the Golovkin-Jacobs fight, and they’re not likely going to let the two walk away without fighting each other with both still holding the WBA’s titles.
“We’re still trying to work out a deal with Al that’s fair for both fighters,” Loeffler said via RingTV.com. “All indication is that Jacobs wants the fight and we’re just trying to work out a deal that benefits both fighters with Al and as soon as something is finalized we’re looking forward to announcing something for 2017.”
Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez said that the idea is for Golovkin to fight four times in 2017. He wants him to fight Jacobs in March or April, then fight in June, September and December. It might be a pipe dream on Sanchez’s part if Loeffler and Jacobs’ management still don’t have a fight put together by April of next year. If Golovkin didn’t care about the WBA title, he could easily walk away from the negotiations and let the WBA have their title back.
Golovkin could then go after fighters that are easier to negotiate with. But with Golovkin wanting to unify all the titles in the middleweight division, Jacobs’ team has him in a position where he needs to stick it out and negotiate the fight no matter what.
The WBA is still being patient in allowing Golovkin and Jacob’s management to try and work out a deal for the fight. Just how much longer the WBA will remain patient is unknown. The fighters were supposed to be fighting in December. If the fight still isn’t made by April of next year, then the WBA will need to make some kind of decision what to do.