By Sean Jones: Internet rumors of Gennady Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) having turned down an offer to fight WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo is false.
Mike Coppinger reporting the rumors are “fake news” and no truth to IBF middleweight champion Golovkin being offered the clash against the unbeaten Charlo (31-0, 22 KOs).
With that said, if Golovkin were offered a fight against Charlo, it’s safe to assume that he would reject it.
The two 160-lb champions fight on different network platforms, with GGG’s contests shown on DAZN and Charlo’s on Showtime. That right there is enough to prevent Golovkin and Charlo from ever fighting.
Golovkin waiting on Canelo for December
In addition to that, Golovkin is still in a holding pattern, waiting and hoping for a trilogy fight against superstar Canelo Alvarez in December 2021. GGG has been waiting three years for the third fight with Canelo ever since he was beaten by the Mexican star by a close 12 round majority decision in 2018.
If Golovkin were to take a risky unification fight against Charlo, he’d be risking losing out on a massive payday against Canelo in December. It makes sense for Golovkin to continue to play it safe, waiting for a trilogy fight against Alvarez that may not happen.
It’s tough when you’re the B-side dealing with a superstar that can pick and choose anyone he wants in the game.
Golovkin, 38, hasn’t fought since December 18th, when he wiped out his IBF mandatory Kamil Szeremeta by a seventh-round stoppage in the headliner event on DAZN.
Although Golovkin’s mandatory Szeremeta wasn’t due at the time, he chose to take it early to get it out of the way.
You can argue that if Golovkin’s mandatory were Sergiy Derevyanchenko, he wouldn’t have taken the fight. Having a soft-touch like Szeremeta as Golovkin’s mandatory had to have made it an appealing choice for him to take the fight.
We’ll see if Golovkin is going to wait until December before he fights again. That would be a weak move on Golovkin’s part if he sits idle, waiting for a potential Canelo fight.
What other choice does Golovkin have? If he takes a fight, fans will expect him to face WBO champion Demetrius Andrade, Charlo, Jaime Munguia, or Derevyanchenko.
Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing has talked of Golovkin possibly facing former WBO 154-lb champion Munguia next, but nothing has come of that talk as of yet. That would be a risky fight for Golovkin as well, as Munguia has improved, and he’s punching with a lot of power.
Ever since that fight, Canelo has taken on easier opposition and shown no desire of getting back in the ring with Golovkin. DAZN wants Canelo to face Golovkin, but they have no way of forcing him to face him.
Canelo is currently on unification kick with him looking to win all the belts at 168 against weak champions that hold titles.
The good news is, Canelo should be done unifying the super middleweight division in September after he faces IBF champion, Caleb Plant. After that, Canelo should be free to take on Golovkin or whoever.
Chris Mannix of DAZN floated the idea this week of Canelo potentially moving up to 175 to become the undisputed champion in that weight division in 2022. That’s a big reach.
It’s one thing for Canelo to unify against the flawed champions at 168 and quite another thing to try the same trick at 175. For Canelo to do that, he would need to beat Artur Beterbiev, Dimitry Bivol, and the winner of the Joe Smith Jr vs. Maxim Vlasov.
Some fans wonder why Canelo didn’t get this unification bug when David Benavidez held the WBC super middleweight title or when Alvarez was fighting at 160.