By Allan Fox: Gennady Golovkin has the next 10 days to decide whether he’s going to agree to the unification fight against WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders. The promoter for the unbeaten Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs), Frank Warren, is saying that they won’t wait around forever for Triple G to make up his mind whether he’ll agree to the fight with his fighter for June. Warren says they’ll move on if he doesn’t make agree to the fight. The contract is there for Golovkin to sign if he wants the fight.
Golovkin and his promoter Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions are still working on a deal with Golden Boy Promotions for a fight against Saul Canelo Alvarez in September. They don’t want Golovkin to fight in June because it would put the September fight at risk. It would delay the promotions for the big fight. But at the same token, Canelo is fighting on May 7 against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. It’s one of those do as I say not as I do type situations. Golden Boy doesn’t want Golovkin to fight in June because it’s risky, and yet Canelo is fighting in May.
“We’ve been in talks for a long time and it’s time to put up or shut up,” Warren said to ESPN.com. “Golovkin says his dream is to hold all the belts, well he can make his dream a reality. All he has to do is sign the contract. Wherever and whenever they want. But we’re not going to keep waiting. If something is not done in the next ten days we’re going to have to move on. Financially the terms have been agreed and it’s just whether they want to do it or not.”
Golovkin can certainly call Golden Boy’s bluff by taking the fight with Saunders in June. If Golden Boy is serious about wanting the fight between Canelo and Golovkin, they’ll go ahead and do the fight. But if they were just using Golovkin’s name to attract fans to Canelo’s fight against Chavez Jr., then they probably won’t take the fight. What’s interesting is that Golden Boy plans on having Canelo fight a rematch with Miguel Cotto in December, which is just 3 months after Canelo’s fight in September.
So it’s OK for Canelo to fight with 3 month’ notice, but not OK for Golovkin to do it. When you see things from that perspective, it seems that Golden Boy is holding Golovkin to a different standard than Canelo.
Golovkin needs the WBO title more than he needs the Canelo fight. If Canelo wants the fight with him, you know absolutely that he would go after the fight. If this was Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. that was fighting in June against Saunders, I find it doubtful that it would keep Golden Boy from matching Canelo against him in September. I think they would make the fight in a second, mainly because I believe that Chavez Jr. is not nearly the same threat as Golovkin is to beating Golden Boy’s flagship fighter Canelo.