De La Hoya: GGG will be one of Canelo’s opponents in 2020

Image: De La Hoya: GGG will be one of Canelo's opponents in 2020
By Boxing News - 09/15/2019 - Comments

By Barry Holbrook: Oscar De La Hoya revealed last Saturday night that Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin will be one of the opponents for Saul Canelo Alvarez in 2020. DAZN wants that fight, and Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) is turning 38-years-old next April. He’s showing signs of fading. It’s not a good deal for DAZN if Canelo waits until Golovkin is completely over-the-hill before he fights him a third time.

The interest in a third fight between them has dropped off badly. If Canelo waits much longer before fighting GGG again, he’ll be hurting DAZN and himself in the process.

If Canelo doesn’t get their trilogy fight over with now, he’ll miss the bus, and wind up being too late to battle the Kazakhstan fighter before he loses again. Golovkin is facing Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) for the vacant IBF middleweight title next month on October 5 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“He [GGG] will be one of the opponents for next year. He has to be,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya last Saturday night on DAZN.

Golden Boy needs to make Canelo-GGG trilogy while they still promote Alvarez

There are a lot of rumors floating around that Canelo will soon leave Golden Boy, and sign with Matchroom Boxing USA promoter Eddie Hearn. In a recent interview, Hearn said that he doesn’t promote Canelo “Yet.” The way that Hearn said that with a smile on his face suggests that there could be some interest in Alvarez’s part to sign with him. If Canelo leaves Golden Boy without fighting Golovkin a third time, it would be a missed opportunity for the promotional company.

It’s not a given that Golovkin will win that fight. The 33-year-old Derevyanchenko is in his prime, and he’s only lost once to Daniel Jacobs during his 5-year pro career. Golovkin looked bad in his last fight against Steve Rolls on June 5. Although GGG won the fight by  4th round knockout, he took heavy shots. This wasn’t the same Golovkin boxing fans had known and loved from 2012 to 2016. GGG looked slower, and not as aggressive as he once was. Golovkin’s two fights against Saul Canelo may have taken something out of him. But more than that, it’s just the natural aging for Golovkin.

Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo didn’t make a fight with Golovkin until he was 35-years-old. Golovkin had wanted to fight Canelo three years earlier in 2014, but there was no interest. Once Golovkin did finally face Canelo, he had to wait a year before getting a rematch fighting a questionable draw against him in 2017. Most boxing fans had Golovkin easily winning. In their rematch, fans saw it as a draw, but the judges gave it to Canelo. Both fights took place at the same venue at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.