By Mike Smith: Gennady Golovkin won’t be facing Brandon Adams in his next fight in June, but he’s not accepted it. Adams is one of the fighters that was reportedly given an offer by GGG’s management to fight him in June. Adams (21-2, 13 KOs) has reportedly agreed to face interim WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (29-0, 22 KOs) next on June 15 on Showtime in Houston, Texas.
With Adams, 29, off the table, Golovkin’s options for his next fight in June are these three fighters:
– Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam
– Kamil Szeremeta
– Demetrius Andrade
Steve Kim of ESPN says he’s heard that #3 WBC ranked N’Jikam (37-3, 21 KOs) is an option for Golovkin’s next fight.
“I have heard that on the grapevine,” Kim said on his social media site when asked if Golovkin could face N’Dam next. “The rumors/reports of Brandon Adam’s facing GGG were greatly exaggerated #boxing. Sources have told ESPN that Brandon Adams, who won ‘the Contender’ middleweight tournament last year, will be challenging WBC interim middleweight titlist, Jermall Charlo, in Houston, Texas on June 15 on a card that will be televised on Showtime.”
What this news means is Golovkin has three really bad choices his next fight in having to select from facing the very difficult Andrade, Kamil Szeremeta or N’Dam. There’s no question that GGG would have an easy time beating the 35-year-old N’Dam and Szeremeta, as neither of them are in his league talent-wise. But the drawback of fighting one of those two fighters is the boxing public won’t be excited at seeing Triple G fight those soft touches, and they subsequently will shy away from subscribing to DAZN to see the fight. Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs) is getting a lot of money in his new six-fight deal with DAZN, which is said to be nine-figures. The streaming giant will no doubt want value for their money that they’re giving Golovkin. They won’t get that if Golovkin takes on N’Dam or Szeremeta. Those fighters aren’t well known with the casual boxing fans. Brandon Adams isn’t well known either, but he was seen by the U.S ans when he was fighting in ESPN’s Boxcino tournament several years ago. While Adams didn’t excel in the tournament, he was still seen by the fans.
The fans want to see Golovkin fight WBO champion Andrade (27-0, 17 KOs), but the perception is that GGG doesn’t want any part of fighting ‘Boo Boo’ or interim WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo. A lot of boxing fans think Golovkin is running scared of facing Andrade and Charlo. What this means is Golovkin is probably not going to want to fight Andrade in June, even though it would bring in a lot of attention from fans, and increase DAZN’s subscriber base if Golovkin took the fight. A win by Triple G over the 2012 U.S Olympian Andrade would make the Canelo-GGG trilogy fight much bigger for September, when the two are expected to face each other for a third fight. It’ll take a lot of courage on GGG’s part to fight Andrade. If Golovkin can’t beat Andrade, then there’s no point in talking about a third fight with Canelo. Andrade will be the one facing Canelo, and Golovkin can fight someone like David Lemieux at super middleweight. It might be a good Plan-B for Golovkin if he starts taking losses at at middleweight. He can move up to 168 and reinvent his career in that weight class. Andrade is supposed to be fighting Maciej Sulecki next in June. Andrade probably won’t be available to fight Golovkin.
K2 Promotions should look beyond N’Dam and Szeremeta, and scout out some of the top fighters at 154 or 168 for Golovkin to fight in June. The boxing public wouldn’t have any qualms and subscribing to see Golovkin fight one of these guys:
– Jarrett Hurd
– Jermell Charlo
– Jaime Munguia
– Rob Brant
– Caleb Plant
– Callum Smith
– Chris Eubank Jr.
– Gilberto Ramirez
– Peter Quillin
– Jesse Hart
– Jose Uzcategui
Team Golovkin needs to think outside the box when it comes to looking for a good opponent for his next fight in June. The boxing fans want to see Golovkin involved in entertaining fights where victory is not certain. They’re not going to get that if GGG faces arguably weaker fighters like N’Dam or Kamil Szeremeta. The reason GGG was so popular in the past was the perception that many boxing fans had that he wasn’t afraid to fight the best. Fans thought that Golovkin was being avoided by the best for many years. But if that perception has changed now with GGG being seen as avoiding the best by not facing Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade and the dangerous guys at 154 and 168, then it’s not going to be good for his career. Golovkin has to continue to take on the best no matter what. Look at Canelo. He’s risking everything in facing the bigger, stronger IBF middleweight champion Danny Jacobs on May 4 on DAZN in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s going to look bad on GGG’s part if he fights someone lesser than Canelo’s opponent in picking out a soft touch for his next fight.