By Allan Fox: K2 promoter Tom Loeffler says he’s still in contact with Saul Canelo Alvarez’s promoters at Golden Boy, but it doesn’t sound like he’s made any progress in the negotiations. Loeffler he’s still willing to do anything to get the Canelo-Golovkin fight made. He says that Golovkin can’t base his career on a fight that hasn’t been agreed to against Canelo. Loeffler might need to move on at this point and make the unification match between GGG and WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders, because it does not sound like the Canelo fight is going to happen at this point.
There are some boxing fans that believe that Loeffler is being strung along by Golden Boy in order to help drive interest to his May 6th fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. If the boxing public believes that there’s a strong chance that Canelo will be fighting Golovkin in September, they might be more inclined to want to purchase the Canelo-Chavez Jr. fight on HBO PPV on May 6.
“We don’t have a signed deal with Golden Boy unfortunately for a Canelo fight,” said Loeffler to IFL TV. “Golovkin can’t base his career on a fight that hasn’t been agreed to yet. At the same time if there’s a way to make it happen [Canelo vs. Golokvin], then we’ll try and make the fight together. It’s always been Gennady’s dream to unify all the titles. Saunders has the last remaining title Gennady’s missing. Hopefully, we’re going to make the Canelo and Saunders fights. Those are 2 great fights for Gennady,” said Loeffler.
Loeffler sounds really torn between wanting to stick it out until the bitter end with the Canelo negotiations, while at the same time wanting to put together a fight against Billy Joe Saunders for June 10. Some boxing fans think Loeffler is looking and sounding really weak in the way he’s holding onto his hopes of the Canelo fight. It does look strange the way Loeffler doesn’t just move on. When Golden Boy and Canelo want a fight, they make it happen quickly.
The fact that Loeffler has been spinning his wheels for ages in trying to make the Canelo fight happen for Golovkin, it would seem that there’s no real serious interest on Golden Boy’s side. Is Loeffler and Golovkin being used by Golden Boy to help drive interest in the Canelo-Chavez Jr. fight? I think it might be better for Loeffler to move on and take the fight with Saunders. If Canelo and Golden Boy do ever want the Golovkin fight, you can bet they’ll push hard to make it happen, and the negotiations will go smoothly and quickly. Loeffler needs to get Golovkin into a fight where he looks good. He did not shine in his last fight against Daniel Jacobs on March 18. That was not one of Golovkin’s best performances.
“I think Chavez Jr. is a bigger guy than Canelo,” said Loeffler. “I think he’s very motivated for that fight. I think that even though they brought the weight down, we’ve never really seen a half pound in a fight like that. 164 ½, but I guess that’s what they agreed to. I guess you’re really splitting hairs at that point. That’s one of the criticisms Canelo has gotten over the years. It’s always been some strange weight limit, 155, 159, or whatever it was. Now he’s actually fighting heavier than where Gennady fights. So hopefully that fight, if Canelo’s successful against Chavez Jr., hopefully that fight can [happen]. I’m still in regular contact with Eric Gomez. As I mentioned, if there’s anything I can do on our side to try and make that fight happen, we’ll make it happen,” said Loeffler about the Canelo-Golovkin fight.
Loeffler sounds too eager to me for the Canelo vs. Golovkin fight. Loeffler needs to move on at this point, and make the fight with Saunders. From the looks of things, I don’t think Golden Boy is serious about wanting to make the fight with Golovkin right now. Loeffler comes across as too needy for the Canelo-Golovkin fight right now in my opinion, and that’s not a good thing. If Loeffler and Golovkin didn’t care whether the fight happened, they might have a better chance of actually getting the fight. They care too much, and I think that’s hurting their chances of it happening.
I still don’t think it would happen. Canelo has a lot of options for his next fight after Chavez Jr. Canelo can fight Chavez Jr. again in September or he can face David Lemieux. Those are two fights that would generate a lot of money on PPV, and Canelo would have a good chance of winning both of them. If Golden Boy puts Canelo in with Golovkin, he’ll likely get knocked out. If Canelo were to turn around after a loss to Golovkin and try and fight Chavez Jr. again or face Lemieux, I don’t see either of those fights doing well on HBO PPV. That’s why I believe that Golden Boy will look to make the money fights against them first, and then face Golovkin when they’ve exhausted all the possible options for Canelo.
I think Loeffler is looking weak with the way he’s pushing so hard for the Canelo fight. Golovkin and Loeffler didn’t get the Canelo fight before when they tried last year, and that should tell them something. Their name was dropped Golden Boy a lot in 2016, but the fight still never happened. Instead of figuring out that Golden Boy might be just name dropping Golovkin’s name to increase interest in his fights against guys that don’t have a chance of beating him, Loeffler keeps hoping they’ll give GGG the fight. I think Golovkin should go ahead and pull the plug on Loeffler’s time-wasting negotiations with Golden Boy, and instead focus on getting the fight with Billy Joe Saunders.
Golovkin’s dream is to unify the middleweight division. That’s an attainable dream, as long as Loeffler stops waiting and hoping that he can put together a fight against Canelo. If Golovkin can will the last remaining middleweight title, it strengthens his position in future negotiations with Golden Boy. Right now, Golovkin doesn’t all the titles, and he’s coming off of a bad performance against Jacobs. He’s not in a good position to negotiate anything.
Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions sending a warning message to Golovkin and Loeffler not to take the June 10 fight against Saunders, it’s a signal that he’s letting them know that he’s the boss in the negotiations with them and he’s the one calling the shots. If Loeffler is going to listen to De La Hoya and obey his wishes by not making the fight with Saunders, then it puts Golovkin in bad position to get the fight with Canelo. It puts him in a one down position, a position of weakness. You don’t want to negotiate like that.
