By Jeff Aronow: Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing will be working with Gennady Golovkin and GGG Promotions to Kazakhstan fighter’s future events. Golovkin’s next fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko on October 5 will have Hearn involved in promoting the match. GGG and Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) are fighting for the vacant IBF middleweight title on DAZN at Madison Square Garden in New York. The negotiations took several weeks before they were completed on Wednesday.
Golovkin has fighters will now be shown on Matchroom cards on DAZN. But the average boxing fans, they want to see Golovkin in action. They’re not as interested in seeing prospects that may never pan out. GGG’s stable fighters may wow the boxing fans, and his own career is winding down.
The Big Drama Show is back!💥 pic.twitter.com/3zPSS9AHOL
— Gennadiy Golovkin (@GGGBoxing) August 22, 2019
Golovkin with several good opponents available for him to fight from Hearn’s stable
Hearn has a number of fighters in his Matchroom stable that he can put in with GGG. These are the notable fighters that Hearn would love to put in with Golovkin:
- Billy Joe Saunders
- Demetrius Andrade
- Callum Smith
- Daniel Jacobs
“Golovkin is someone that can fluctuate in the weight class,” said Hearn. “His last fight was at 163 pounds [against Steve Rolls], but this is 160 [against Sergiy Derevyanchenko]. I know talking to their team they’d be willing to move up to fight you [Saunders] for a two division world champion,” said Hearn.
It’s in Hearn’s best interest for Golovkin to fight his Matchroom fighters rather than guys outside of his promotion. The fighter that Hearn appears to have the most interest in Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) facing is WBO super middleweight champion Saunders (28-0, 13 KOs).
Golovkin recently signed a six-fight, nine-figure deal with DAZN, and he wants to face Saul Canelo Alvarez in a trilogy fight. Canelo has already turned him down for a fight. Golovkin is betting that if he beats Derevyanchenko to win the vacant International Boxing Federation middleweight title, he can use that to get a third match with Canelo. GGG has already used up one of his six-fights with DAZN in beating 35-year-old Steve Rolls by a fourth round knockout last June.
Hearn eager to start working with Golovkin
“I can’t wait to get started to work together on the upcoming World title challenge against Derevyanchenko at MSG on October 5,” said Hearn. We know the world wants to see the Canelo trilogy but there are so many opportunities out there for Gennadiy all over the world and we look forward to working together on them. First things first is for Gennadiy to win the title on October 5.”
Hearn referring to there being “so many opportunities out there for Gennadiy” is a huge hint that he’s going to try and persuade him to fight one of his Matchroom stable fighters. Saunders is clearly the first guy that Hearn will attempt to get Golovkin to fight if he beats Derevyanchenko on October 5. Hearn recently signed Saunders, and the two mentioned Golovkin during the news conference last week.
Saunders wants Golovkin
“If I can’t beat a 37-year-old man, who has been around a bit; I’m 29 and in my prime, there’s something wrong,” said Saunders about Golovkin. “Then I’m not as good as I thought I was. I’m very confident of beating Golovkin very clearly and very widely. I think the two fights with Canelo showed. The first one, I thought he [Golovkin] won. In the second one, Canelo did improve.
Obviously, the training camp and the sparring took a toll [on Golovkin]. That’s what really cost him that fight to be a little bit closer than the first one. I believe I could exploit that very easily against Golovkin. Golovkin can come up to [super middleweight] if he wants. I’m not bothered about it. I’d fight him at whatever weight he wants. That’s a fight that I’d absolutely love. I think if I get that fight, I could show people around the world. I’m not being big-headed in talking about how easy I could beat him and out-box him. I’d probably do a better job than Canelo, and then push him to potentially call for that fight after,” said Saunders.