By Barry Holbrook: Saul Canelo Alvarez remains the primary target for Gennady Golovkin’s next fight says promoter Tom Loeffler. Golovkin and Loeffler haven’t given up on wanting to make the trilogy match with Alvarez for their next fight despite the talk of the Golden Boy Promotions star potentially moving up to light heavyweight to face WBO champion Sergey Kovalev.
Loeffler will meet with DAZN to decide GGG’s next opponent if Canelo unavailable
Loeffler says that if the Canelo fight isn’t there for GGG, then they’ll sit down with the DAZN management and decide on an opponent for Golovkin to fight next. An obvious choice for GGG to face next would be WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade, but Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) may resist making that fight due to the tricky style and the sound defensive skills of the American. GGG prefers to fight guys that he can hit with his shots, and Andrade would make it difficult if not impossible for Golovkin to land his punches. Golovkin could lose to Andrade or look horrible against him. Unlike Golovkin’s last fight against Steve Rolls, which was a mismatch going into the contest, Andrade would be a 50-50 affair for GGG. Golovkin might lose.
“I can’t officially comment on the opponent process, [but] naturally Canelo is the top choice,” Loeffler said to Yahoo Sports News.“If that doesn’t work for whatever reason, then we would sit down with GGG and DAZN and figure out the next best alternative.”
The best alternative would almost certainly be Andrade, who holds the WBO middleweight strap. He’d be a problem for GGG if he boxes him the way he did Maciej Sulecki last Saturday night Golovkin would need to use quick footwork to cut off the ring on Andrade to have a chance to beat him. It would be good practice for Golovkin to get him ready for Canelo, because the Mexican star gave him fits with the little bit of movement he used in their first fight in 2017. Golovkin might not want to take the fight with Andrade, but there aren’t any better options available to him unless DAZN can convince Daniel Jacobs to fight GGG in a rematch.
This would be bad timing for a Golovkin-Jacobs rematch, given that Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) lost his last fight to Canelo Alvarez on last month on May 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada. After the fight, Jacobs and his promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing spoke about him moving up to 168.
If Golovkin wants to fight Jacobs at super middleweight, then it would be a doable fight, but still not a good one, considering that the 32-year-old New Yorker is coming off of a loss to Alvarez. The casual boxing fans probably would have no idea that Jacobs lost his last fight, so they might not care that GGG is fighting him, but the hardcore fans would be aware of it. They would see it as another example of GGG picking the easier option.
GGG might need to fight Andrade
The way that Andrade performed last Saturday night in successfully defending his WBO middleweight title against Maciej Sulecki was more than a little off putting, but he won the fight easily. Golovkin might not want to fight Andrade after that performance, but he might have to face him regardles. Andrade has these things going for him:
Signed with DAZN
Undefeated
WBO middleweight
Promoted by Matchroom Boxing USA
He’s calling GGG out
Unafraid to take risks. Andrade is calling everyone out
Andrade has got a lot going for him right now. The temptation is obviously high for Golovkin to take on another soft opponent in order not to risk the big Canelo money that awaits him in the future, but this is a sport.
If Golovkin going to start treating his fights strictly as business level fights, where he either takes soft jobs or fights Canelo in big money matches, then he’ll lose fans. You can argue that Golovkin is possibly already losing a lot of his boxing fans with his decision to fight Steve Rolls. Golovkin isn’t fighting the young lions Jermall Charlo and Andrade. A lot of fans now think GGG is ducking those two guys.
They also think Canelo is ducking them as well, but he’s got cover, because he just fought Jacobs, and he’s targeting light heavyweight champion Kovalev for his next fight. Canelo is taking huge risks with his career, whether it be against Golovkin or Kovalev. We’re not seeing GGG take the same kind of risks. The match against Rolls was a horrible fight, and if GGG is looking to fight Szeremeta or Munguia next, then he’ll continue to be seen in that light by boxing fans.
These are the options for GGG if Canelo doesn’t face him next:
- Demetrius Andrade
- Jermall Charlo
- Daniel Jacobs
- Jaime Munguia
- Callum Smith
- Jermell Charlo
- Jarrett Hurd
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko
- Kamil Szeremeta
- Billy Joe Saunders
You’d like to think that Golovkin will take the riskiest fight of the bunch against arguably Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade, but it just doesn’t seem likely. Some fans think GGG has become risk adverse, and is just looking for the cash out against Canelo. Golden Boy and Canelo want GGG to continue to face the best, but they can’t force him to do it. Golovkin has got to want to do that. DAZN can help Canelo and Golden Boy by gently trying to persuade Golovkin to fight the highest quality fighters, but if he resists doing that, then what can they do? If Loeffler and Golovkin decide they only want to fight Szeremeta or Munguia in September if no Canelo fight, can DAZN veto that idea or do they just give in and rubber stamp the idea?
Jaime Munguia being mentioned as possible opponent for GGG in September
Jaime Munguia is being mentioned as one of the options for Golovkin to fight on the Mexican Independence Day holiday on September 14 if Canelo chooses to challenge Sergey Kovalev next. Canelo has a knee problem, according to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, and that could prevent him from returning until late 2019. Munguia (33-0, 26 KOs) is only 22-years-old, and has never fought at middleweight before. The young Mexican fighter is coming off of a career worst performance in successfully defending against mandatory challenger Dennis Hogan (28-2, 13 KOs) last April. Munguia beat him by a questionable decision on April 13 in Mexico. For most boxing fans, Munguia should have lost that fight, and he fought poorly. Hogan hasn’t stopped talking ever since his loss, and he’s pushing hard for a rematch with Munguia.
Obviously, with the taint of controversy following Munguia like a skunk, it would be a bad idea for Golovkin to fight him right now. Nevertheless, it was also a questionable move on Golovkin’s part for him to face little known 35-year-old Steve Rolls in his last fight on June 8 on DAZN. GGG fighting Munguia would make some boxing fans happy, but many of them would be see the most as another cherry pick on his part. However, Munguia would be a tremendous upgrade over Rolls. You can say that much, but Golovkin wouldn’t be looking courageous if he chose to fight Munguia rather than Andrade or Jermall Charlo.
Golovkin would be viewed in negative terms by boxing fans if he faces the inexperienced, easy to hit Munguia. There would be very little to gain in GGG fighting Munguia other than money. You can argue that Golovkin would do well financially in a fight with Munguia, as long as DAZN gives him the green light to take the fight.
Canelo’s courage in targeting Kovalev puts pressure on Golovkin to fight the best too
Fans have noticed recently how Canelo is taking on the best fighters, while Golovkin has targeting easier options with him fighting lower level fighter Steve Rolls in his last fight. Canelo’s decision to test himself by looking to fight WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev will put even more added on pressure on GGG to keep up with him by facing the best as well. It’ll look really bad on Golovkin’s part if he chooses another soft opponent for his next fight.
After Golovkin’s recent win over Rolls, he said at the post-fight news conference that he doesn’t want to face the fighters have been named in the past like Jacobs. Some boxing fans saw this as a hint that Golovkin will look to fight unbeaten #3 WBC Kamil Szeremeta (19-0, 4 KOs) in his next fight if Canelo doesn’t face him in the trilogy match. The main problem with Golovkin fighting Szeremeta is the fact that he’s not well known in the U.S. That means the subscriptions for DAZN would likely be low for a fight between Golovkin and Szeremeta . If GGG fought only in Europe, then a fight between him and Szeremeta might interest fans more, because Kamil is from Poland.