By Dan Ambrose: Gennady Golovkin commented today about his upcoming October 5th fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, as well as thoughts on Saul Canelo Alvarez’s fight against Sergey Kovalev on November 2. Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) says the reason he’s fighting Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) next is because Canelo turned down the fight with him for September.
GGG says Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions wanted to make the trilogy fight, but he said, ‘No.’ Despite Canelo having obligations to the boxing public, and to DAZN, who recently gave him a huge $365 million contract, he chose not to take the fight with GGG. That move by Canelo not to fight Golovkin, which some believe is the biggest fight that can be made in boxing, puts DAZN in a tough spot. Instead of getting the trilogy match between them, they’ll have to be satisfied with Canelo facing Kovalev. That’s a fighter that some believe is the fourth best champion at 175. In other words, Kovalev is seen as the weakest link among the four champions at light heavyweight by a lot of boxing fans.
Golovkin fighting Derevyanchenko because Canelo refused third match
“I don’t feel like I lose momentum. And, I feel like a champion,” said Golovkin. “I come back for all my titles. This is a championship fight. I feel great. I have known him [Derevyanchenko] for a long time, and I remember him from the 2008 Olympics. He represented the 2008 Ukraine team. And, he still looks good, and he looks strong. He didn’t lose fights in the WSB. He’s so good. A couple of years he’s the official time for the IBF title. I feel he brings a lot, a bonus, with his boxing style. He opened my eyes for different. I feel very comfortable with him. You’re talking about the IBF and IBO titles.
“I’m very happy that I can do that right now. It’s the situation because Canelo refused to fight. We were supposed to have a fight in September. So this is the best that I have right now. This is the reality of the situation that we should talk about. I have to be ready for anything. As you’ve seen in the last couple of fights, he has a good career behind him,” said GGG about Derevyanchenko. “This guy is ready for everything, so I have to be ready for everything.”
GGG needs to be ready for Canelo to continue to refuse fights with him far into the future, because it’s painfully obvious to all that he doesn’t want the third fight. Even though Canelo is basically shooting himself in the foot with the boxing public, and with DAZN, he still doesn’t want to take the third match with Golovkin. If Golovkin gets passed the 33-year-old Derevyanchenko, then the best option would be for him to go after WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade.
Gennady can only fight those who want to face him
“I would follow up on that in talking about other champions and other titles. If you remember on his [Golovkin] first championship run, the other champions absolutely refused to fight him,” said Golovkin’s co-promoter Tom Loeffler. “If you remember one of them [Saul Canelo Alvarez] vacated a title [WBC middleweight belt. So whether it’s [Felix] Sturm, Sergio [Martinez] or whoever, Canelo wouldn’t fight him as a champion.
We’ll see if he can beat Derevyanchenko now, and we’ll go on a second title run. As he said, we’ve got to be realistic. He’s got to beat the people that are willing to fight you. This second time around, it seems like people are more willing to fight him now than they were before. But we can only tell that when the time comes,” said Loeffler.
Loeffler has the right idea for Golovkin. He needs to be realistic about the fights that can be made. Canelo doesn’t want the trilogy match, and there’s nothing they can do about it. He’s following in the footsteps of Floyd Mayweather Jr. who chose not to fight a lot of guys. He didn’t give Canelo a rematch after beating him in 2013 despite the fact that it would have made him a fortune. In the final years of Mayweather’s career, he chose to fight a lot of easy marks in record-padding fights like Robert Guerrero, Andre Berto and Marcos Maidana. Canelo is doing the same thing in taking easy options.
Canelo’s promoters tried to get him to face Golovkin
“There’s a lot of attention on Canelo. He’s given a lot of allowances on what he’s willing and not willing to do,” said Golovkin. “There’s very little we could do. We had a contract signed, a date, and Canelo said, ‘No, I’m not going to do that.’ His promoters at team tried to persuade him, but he said, ‘No.’ There was nothing we could do. Also what happened was Canelo’s team started laundering their dirty laundry in public.
I don’t want to talk about this, and go into their family quarrels. But what they actually have shown is the neglect of the obligations of the contracts with us and with DAZN, shows that’s how they behave, and don’t respect the audience and don’t respect the obligations. But we do have a Plan-B, and more than just Plan-B.
We have four or five different options we’re going to pursue if that third fight doesn’t happen. Nobody specifically offered me to move up, as far as an opponent, but it is an option. If it’s an interesting fight, I would consider it,” said Golovkin.
Golden Boy Promotions realized that DAZN wanted to see Canelo fight Golovkin in a third fight, so they were obviously trying to keep them happy. You’ve got to wonder what DAZN is thinking about Canelo now. They gave him a huge 11-fight, $365 million contract only to see him side-stepping the Golovkin trilogy fight.
Derevyanchenko was best option available says GGG
“For example, look at Derevyanchenko, He was the best option we had in a short period of time with which we had to choose,” said Golovkin. “We will choose other opponents when they come available. Two belts, official challenger,” said GGG about Derevyanchenko. “Okay, maybe not a big name for the United States, but he’s a very good opponent. If we win this fight, we will continue to move on if we have some challengers, and if we have some unification options, we’ll continue to pursue.
“He himself said he didn’t want to fight,” said Golovkin about Canelo not wanting to fight him in a trilogy match. “Yes, it would have been a good fight. People wanted this fight, and it would have been an interesting fight. It doesn’t make sense to talk about this fight, because the other side says they don’t want to do that,” said GGG.
Of the contenders, Derevyanchenko was clearly the best available fighter. Golovkin could have done better if he’d fought WBC champion Jermall Charlo or WBA champion Ryota Murata. There would have been a lot of interest in Golovkin fighting Charlo. The only problem with Golovkin taking a fight against Charlo is the negotiations. Charlo is with PBC, whereas Golovkin is with Matchroom Boxing on DAZN.
Loeffler: Golovkin isn’t chasing Canelo Alvarez
“Gennady wasn’t chasing Canelo. That was the biggest fight in the sport of boxing,” said Loeffler. “The fans wanted it. Both of those fights did over a million pay-per-views. They were very successful at the gate. He was the mandatory for Canelo at the time when he was the WBC champion. But now as Gennady says, if Canelo is going in another direction, and doesn’t want to fight. Our position is Gennady won both of those fights. There were scoring irregularities in both fights. When most people thought he won the first fight, one judge scored it 10 to 2 [for Canelo] the other way. That’s inexplicable.
“When everyone thought he won the last fight, and two judges gave it to Canelo, that’s inexplicable. So there’s a lot of unfinished business there. So he’s focused on Derevyanchenko, and he’s focused on going his own way. That’s really a question for Canelo. If Canelo is going to fight, that’s a question for him to talk about when he’s going to do the fight with GGG,” said Loeffler.
“Not only that, but the same coach said that if he was in Derevyanchenko’s corner, Derevyanchenko would have won that fight,” said Loeffler.
Loeffler says Golovkin isn’t chasing Canelo, but the fans would disagree with that view. Golovkin is very much chasing Canelo, and pushng for the third fight in a major manner. There’s nothg wrong with Golovkin wanting a third fight
Banks hopes Derevyanchenko fights aggressively
“I thought we jelled together well in the first camp, and we’re gelling even better in the second camp,” said Golovkin’s trainer Johnathan Banks. “Obviously a little things are different, because he’s fighting a different opponent. I think this guy is physically bigger than [Steve] Rolls was. He’s looking good in the gym. He’s developing well.
“I’m noticing that. My only question mentally is this guy [Derevyanchenko] going to fight GGG like he fought Danny Jacobs. I really don’t think so, but if he do, it would be better for GGG. It’s just a matter of how he’s going to fight GGG. Is he going to take it to him, and try go make it a brawl or will he try and move around a little bit, and take it to the later rounds? Who knows? That’s something we got to experience.
“He’s [Golovkin] the type of student who brings an apple to the teacher. It’s a pleasure to be in the gym with him every day. and he’s happy to be there. He comes to the gym with a big smile on his face. He’s happy to be there, and working together has been a pleasure on both sides. I saw it [Danny Jacobs vs. Derevyanchenko]. I thought it was a good fight. It was a tooth and nail fight, and I think the knockdown saved the fight for Jacobs.
“More so that was the gap on the scorecards, that knockdown. But he kept pressuring, and coming to Jacobs. But Jacobs was like a Rock’em Sock’em type fighter. That’ s what I’m saying. I don’t think he [Derevyanchenko] will fight GGG like that, but if he do, GGG will be more than game to and it would be a pleasure,” said Banks.
Derevyanchenko is too smart for him to come out looking to brawl against Golovkin. He will at times slug with Golovkn, but he won’t do that for the entire fight. In Derevyanchenko’s two toughest fights as a pro against Danny Jacobs and Tureano Johnson, he did a lot of boxing.
Derevyanchenko with new trainer
“In talking about the previous fight [Jacobs vs. Derevyanchenko], they both had the same coach, and the coach took the side of Jacobs,” said Golovkin. “Right now they have a different coach, and he’s training Derevyanchenko. We should pay attention to that,” said Golovkin.
“He brings a lot of great sparring partners from his gym in Detroit,” said Golovkin in remarking about his weight loss thanks to his trainer Banks. “I think this is a good situation for [Sergey] Kovalev, because he has a good opponent, and he can make some money. As far as Canelo, I don’t even want to discuss him.”
It doesn’t matter who trains Derevyanchenko at this point. He knows what he’s doing after a long amateur career, and he’s not going to be helped or hurt with a new trainer. He’s on cruise control, and always knows how to fight. If Derevyanchenko wins this fight against Golovkin, it won’t be due to his trainer. It’ll be because he’s the better fighter.