By Mike Smith: Now that Gennady Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs) and his team have picked out his next opponent in Steve Rolls (19-0, 10 KOs) for June 8, GGG and DAZN reportedly are hoping to finalize a third fight with Saul Canelo Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 KOs) for September on the streaming platform, provided that both guys win their next fights. DAZN wants the Canelo vs. GGG 3 fight. Golovkin clearly wants it.
Hopefully there’s no reservations on the part of the 28-year-old Alvarez in taking on Golovkin a third time. It’s obviously hard work for Canelo each time he faces GGG, but that’s how it is when you’re facing the best.
Canelo faces Daniel Jacobs in a unification scrap on May 4 in Las Vegas, while GGG must take care of business against the unbeaten Rolls on the 8th of June in his debut on DAZN at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Mexican warrior Canelo said recently that he’s ready to face Golovkin in a third contest, but only if he brings another middleweight champion title to the table in winning the WBO belt, which is in the possession of Demetrius Andrade at the moment. Canelo says he would no issues with making the trilogy fight that Golovkin and the boxing public so badly want under that condition. GGG and his promoter were willing to call Canelo’s bluff, so they made the fight with non-champion Rolls instead of scheduling the contest Alvarez wanted him to take against WBO belt holder Andrade (27-0, 17 KOs). If Canelo chooses to hold it against Golokin for not fighting for the WBO middleweight crown against “Boo Boo” Andrade, he’s going to be left with limited options for his September fight and there after. If GGG never fights Andrade, what does Canelo choose to do then?
“Gennady Golovkin is one of the top middleweights of all-time, and as part of DAZN’s growing roster of premiere fighters and our ongoing promise to deliver the best fights to fans, we are thrilled to kick off this exciting partnership at the iconic Madison Square Garden,” said Joseph Markowski, DAZN Executive Vice President, North America. “It will surely be an electric night and just the beginning of this next chapter of Golovkin’s impressive legacy.”
Golovkin, 37, and Rolls, 35, will be fighting at a catch-weight at 164 pounds on DAZN. Since there won’t be a world title on the line for the fight, the weight is of less importance. It’s more about entertainment. The two fighters won’t need to worry about draining down to 160 to make weight for the middleweight limit. They’ll still need to make weight, but it won’t be quite as hard as it normally is for them.
Rolls hasn’t beaten any one that stands on during his short career, but he does have a nice recent victory over the always tough KeAndrae Leatherwood last December.
Canelo has talked recently of wanting to move up to 175 to take on WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev for his title. However, Kovalev isn’t available right now to defend against Canelo. The hard hitting Russian fighter will be defening next against his World Boxing Organization mandatory challenger Anthony Yade, and he won’t be free to face omeone like Canelo until after that match is done later this year. In the meantime, Canelo has the September date open, and he’s going to need a dance partner for that date. If Canelo decides to freeze out GGG because he’s not doing what he asks him to do in grabbing the WBO 160 lb title from Demetrius Andrade, then Alvarez will need to take on the next possible opponent.
Canelo can fight one of these talented boxers in September if he elects to give Golovkin the freeze:
– David Lemieux
– Jaime Munguia
– Jermall Charlo
– Rob Brant
– Callum Smith
– Gilberto Ramirez
– Chris Eubank Jr.
– Sergiy Derevyanchenko
– Demetrius Andrade
If Golovkin doesn’t want to put in the effort to win the WBO middleweight title, Canelo can always do that himself. Andrade is with DAZN, and is promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing USA. Golden Boy Promotions has a good working relationship with Hearn, so it shouldn’t be an issue putting together a Canelo vs. Andrade fight if the Mexican star insists on being able to fight for the WBO belt. It’s refreshing that Canelo is so ambitious and wants to unify the middleweight division. GGG wanted to unify the titles, but he had a hard time trying to line up a fight against former WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders. Now that Saunders is out of the way after having moved up to 168, it’s Andrade that hold the belt. He’s willing to fight GGG and Canelo. In fact, Andrade is insisting on facing both of those guys. He thinks he can beat them both. Golokin, 37, has burned out on trying to unify the 160 lb weight class. He now just wants to face the best possible opponents to make the fights that the fans want to see. Golovkin seems ambivalent about taking on Andrade. The fans aren’t demanding that fight, so Golovkin isn’t chomping at the bit to make it happen.
“I want to sincerely thank DAZN and GGG himself for giving me the opportunity to challenge one of the best fighters in the world,” said Rolls in talking about the opportunity he’s being given to face one of the legends of the sport. “But let me be clear: I’ve won national championships and represented my country, and Golovkin is just a man. I’m coming to win this fight and put my name among the best middleweights in the world.”