Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs will not fight in 2016

GGG next fight

A week removed from the WBAโ€™s ruling on the official purse split, the potential match between Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) and Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) has been shelved, at least until 2017.

The two sides had been neck-deep in negotiations for a December clash, which would have settled the argument as to who is the worldโ€™s best middleweight.

โ€œI donโ€™t think 12/10 is happening,โ€ said Jacobsโ€™ trainer Andre Rozier to Boxing News. โ€œNot enough time. Itโ€™s a great fight. It needs the proper seasoning.โ€

With the WBA mandating the match, and both fighters wanting to compete once more before the end of the year, it was looking as if the fight was actually going to get made. K2 Promotions, which represents Golovkin, even had New Yorkโ€™s Madison Square Garden reserved as the potential venue.

โ€œWe havenโ€™t really even started to gear up (for training) and weโ€™re talking about six weeks to get it all together,โ€ add Rozier in an interview RingTV.com. โ€œHonestly, from my standpoint, I wouldnโ€™t let him fight on Dec. 10. Thatโ€™s just the bottom line.โ€

Jacobsโ€™ formal request to the WBA for a 60-40 split, versus the standard 75-25 for the champion, seemed to slow down the negotiation but, as recently as last week, Loeffler seemed hopeful that both sides would find common ground before the fight went to purse bid.

โ€œRight now, thereโ€™s a throne and Golovkin sits on it,โ€ said Jacobs to Boxing News just days before Golovkin-Brook. โ€œThatโ€™s where I want to be at. Heโ€™s looking impressive every fight and heโ€™s fighting regularly and that is a big advantage to have. Do I think I can beat him? Of course, I can beat him but Iโ€™ve got to go into that fight at 100 per cent knowing I can beat himโ€ฆItโ€™s a fight Iโ€™d take in 2017 and Iโ€™d be confident in myself if it came off.โ€

With Jacobs out of the picture for December, will Golovkin fight once more in 2016?

โ€œNo,โ€ said Loeffler to Boxing News. โ€œWeโ€™re focused on getting the mandatory out of the way with the WBA. So, heโ€™s going to wait until he fights Jacobs.โ€

Share Page