By Allan Fox: WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo made it clear during a press conference this month that he wants to fight IBF 160-lb champion Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin in a unification clash once he takes care of challenger Juan Macias Montiel on June 19th.
Now it’s up to Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) to decide on whether he wants to face the unbeaten Charlo (31-0, 22 KOs) to show that he’s not afraid to take risks at this point in his career.
The perception that many people have is Gennadiy, 39, is just looking to finish his last remaining three fights on his DAZN contract and end with a cash-out trilogy match against Canelo Alvarez.
Golovkin could prove boxing fans wrong if he were willing to accept Charlo’s challenge, but it’s not looking like he will.
You hate to think that Golovkin is afraid of Charlo, but it’s hard not to view it this way. If Charlo’s name was Kamil Szeremeta, would Golovkin be avoiding a fight with him?
The Kazakhstan fighter is expected to sit for the next months and wait until he faces WBA champion Ryota Murata on December 31st in Japan. That’s a move that is similar to Caleb Plant choosing to sit and wait for a payday against Canelo rather than take a risk by facing David Benavidez.
If Golovkin sits on his backside until facing Murata in December, that would be a Plant-esque move on his part and show weakness.
Froch likes Golovkin vs. Charlo fight
“Jermall Charlo has been on a call-out streak of late. His latest name, Gennadiy Golovkin, the 160-lb IBF champion,” said Chris Mannix to DAZN. “Charlo says he wants Golovkin. He says he’ll be the ‘B-side’ for a fight against Golovkin. Do you like Jermall Charlo vs. Gennadiy Golovkin?”
“I certainly do. It’s a great fight,” said Carl Froch to DAZN when asked if he’d like to see Golovkin vs. Jermall Charlo. “6 feet tall Texan lad, a decent-sized orthodox middleweight, and he’s 30-years-old, which I think is an advantage.
“Gennadiy Golovkin, I think it just slightly over-the-hill now at his age [39-years-old]. He’s still a quality fighter, marquee fighter, a big puncher, and he can take a punch.
“Those are the last two things to go. I’m not writing off Golovkin at any strength of the imagination, but Charlo, I just like. He’s hungry, he’s aggressive, he’s confident, he’s cocky, he’s outspoken, he’s got a good dig, and he can take a punch.
“He’s got a fan-friendly style, and I like it. I think this is a great fight,” said Froch about a hypothetical Golovkin vs. Charlo clash.
“Not only that, but it’s an old lion against a young, hungry new lion in ‘Lion’s Only’ in Jermall Charlo,” said Sergio Mora about Golovkin vs. Jermall.
“This is what you need when you’re in the chapter of your career where you need to prove yourself like Golovkin. Golovkin only lost one time to Canelo, and it seems like Canelo won’t look his way.”
Golovkin vs. Charlo would be an excellent fight for DAZN, the fans, and their respective careers. Unfortunately, Golovkin has shown no desire to make this fight all these years despite Charlo being a guy in his own weight class at 160.
It would have made more sense for Golovkin to have challenged Charlo for his WBC belt than taking on Sergiy Derevyanchenko for the vacant strap in October 2019.
GGG would be great for Jermall’s resume
“Every old champion gets to the point where they need to fight a young, hungry up-and-coming guy, and Charlo’s that name. For Jermall Charlo, he needs a Gennadiy Golovkin on his resume.
“He needs a Hall of Famer. The best name on his resume is [Sergiy] Derevyanchenko and Matt Korobov. They weren’t champions, they weren’t Hall of Famers, and they’re not monsters like Golovkin. Not only stylistically but because of the resume as well,” said Mora.
Jermall needs Golovkin’s scalp to take his career to the next level, but it won’t help him if he turns around and continues fighting guys like Montiel, Dennis Hogan, and Brandon Adams.
Even if Charlo did beat GGG, the chances are that he would ruin the progress that he made from the victory by going back to fighting lower-level fighters to milk his titles.
The way Charlo has picked out his opposition shows that he’s only willing to do the minimum and not take the chances that he needs to get to the level of a Golovkin or Canelo.
Golovkin-Charlo better than Charlo-Andrade
“Charlo-Andrade is a great fight, a fight that probably should have happened, but is he [Demetrius Andrade] being managed well? Is he looking after himself?” said Froch.
“The GGG fight for Charlo is massive, and if he can beat GGG, albeit a fading GGG, it’s still a massive name, a marquee name that is really propel his career to the next level.
“If he goes in there and does a job against GGG, you might say all of a sudden that you’re going to change your opinion on him and say, ‘What a great move.’
“Good fighters have to be steered in the right direction, and maybe that’s what he’s doing,” said Froch.
“I’m going to say Charlo-Golovkin because we know what Golovkin is going to bring to the table, and that’s destruction,” said Mora.
“And we know what Charlo brings to the table, that bad-boy image, and it’s a perfect promotion as well.
“I’m speaking about a fan here, but as a boxer that knows the struggle of Andrade that is doing everything to get the big fights, knowing how good he is, knowing that he’s a southpaw, he’s an Olympian, he’s a champion, knowing that he can probably beat these big guys that I’m talking about, probably give Canelo all the problems that he can handle, I know this will be a good fight. But as a fan, give me Golovkin,” said Mora.
There’s no doubt that Charlo is better off facing Golovkin than Andrade in terms of money and fan interest.
Golovkin suggested a couple of years ago that Charlo and Andrade should fight each other. Although Gennadiy didn’t promise that he would fight the winner, it was believed that’s why he was asking them to make the fight.
Charlo unlikely to ever face Andrade
“I’m fine with this fight, but what are we doing here with Jermall Charlo?” said Mannix. “We go back and forth about Jermall Charlo avoiding Demetrius Andrade, and that’s what it is. He’s avoided him over the years.
“You can’t say there’s nothing of consequence in fighting Demetrius Andrade. He has a title.
“You can’t say there’s money behind Demetrius Andrade. Eddie Hearn was willing to pay Jermall Charlo seven million dollars in order for him to fight Demetrius Andrade.
“I know what Charlo is doing. He’s eyeing Gennadiy Golovkin, as you said, an aging champion, someone he can pick off at this stage in his career.
“But what frustrates me and what Sergio and I talk about all the time is that Charlo has had opportunity after opportunity to take on top-level fighters, and he hasn’t done it.
“He is going to face Juan Montiel in June in a title defense. That is one of the worst title defenses we’ve seen in the last few years.
“Forgive me if I’m not getting excited about Charlo vs. Golovkin when we should have seen Charlo vs. Andrade last year,” said Mannix.
“I’ve been trying to will Charlo-Andrade into existence, and it seems more and more that fight is never going to happen,” added Mannix.
Jermall will never fight WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade (30-0, 18 KOs) because it’s a bad style match-up for him. The fight would be a 50-50 affair, but it wouldn’t be a sure-thing win for Charlo.
If Jermall is going to take a risky fight, he wants to have a big payoff, which is why he’s pushing so hard for a match against Gennadiy and Canelo Alvarez.
Those fights would pay Charlo so much money that it would be worth it for him to take them. Even if Charlo gets beaten, he will make a fortune.
