By Mike Smith: Former middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s next fight will be announced this week on DAZN for June 8 or 16, according to Eddie Hearn. The boxing public wants to see GGG matched tough against one of the good middleweights in the division like Demetrius Andrade, Jermall Charlo or Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
GGG just signed a three-year, six-fight deal with DAZN this week for an undisclosed contract amount. It’s assumed that fight #2 for Golovkin on his six-fight contract will be against Saul Canelo Alvarez this September.
With the money available to Golovkin for a September Trilogy fight with Saul Canelo Alvarez, his next opponent isn’t expected to be anyone that could potentially cause problems. There’s too much money there for GGG and DAZN for him to be put in with someone that he could have to reach deep to beat. That pretty much rules out Demetrius Andrade.
Hearn isn’t giving any hints about who GGG could be fighting in June. It’s likely going to be a name that is recognizable to boxing fans. Some believe it’ll be Hassan N’Dam (37-3, 21 KOs), who is ranked #3 by the World Boxing Council. There’s also #2 Kamil Szeremeta (19-0, 4 KOs). That guy would be an ideal opponent for GGG to fight. He’s not a big puncher, and he would be hittable for Triple G. Sergey Derevyanchenko, Matt Korobov, Jason Quigley, Luis Arias and Yamaguchi Falcao would be great options as well. Golovkin signed a three-year six fight deal with DAZN, which means the streaming giant doesn’t have a lot of fights with him for him to be taking soft jobs. For that reason, Korobov or Derevyanchenko would give DAZN the biggest bang for their buck as possible opponents for Golovkin. If GGG ends up with someone like Falcao, Arias or Quigley, there won’t be as much interest.
Canelo is obviously taking a big risk in facing IBF middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs in his next fight on DAZN on May 4. However, the Canelo-Jacobs fight is taking place at Canelo’s favorite venue at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is a place where he’s never been beaten. If Golovkin had a place where he’s seemingly unbeatable the way Canelo has with the T-Mobile Arena, he could take the risk of fighting anyone without worry.
Golovkin (38-1, 34 KOs) won’t be facing WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade (27-0, 17 KOs) though, but the two could wind up on the same card. Andrade is expected to face the winner of this Friday’s fight between Maciej Sulecki and Gabriel Rosado. Andrade, 31, is tentatively schedued now to fight on June 22 at Dunkin Donuts Center, in Providence, Rhode Island. Whether that date holds to be true, it would mean that Golovkin will be fighting in Andrade’s hometown against a still to be determined opponent. That’s not greatest venue for GGG. With his popularity, he should be fighting in New York or Southern California where he draw big crowds.