IT seems reasonable to ask whether we will ever get to see Gennady Golovkin fight Saul โCaneloโ Alvarez. This year seemed to be the perfect time, the WBC even mandated for Canelo to fight โGGGโ. The Mexican though vacated the title and dropped just a pound to go back down to the super-welterweight division. Golovkin has had to bide his time.
After his latest victory, Gennady said next he wanted โfirst of all Billy Joe Saunders or Caneloโ.
It was unclear though whether Golovkin was confident of ever actually nailing down a clash with Canelo, whether it be next year or the one after. All he would say about getting the Alvarez fight was:ย โHopefully. I hope in the future. Maybe after today, heโs ready. I hope seriously. I want this fight.โ
Gennady’s latest challenger Kell Brook stepped up from welterweight. He didnโt hurt Golovkin but he did find the openings for punch combinations as well as excellent uppercuts. The Kazakh insisted he didnโt feel weight in those blows but Kell caught Golovkin far more frequently than the vast majority of his challengers and even obliged Gennady to take a backwards step, a rare feat. That might have caught Canelo’s eye.
โKell Brook was hitting him clean, he was hitting him with uppercuts, a lot of combinations. For me itโs never great to see him get hit clean like that but at the same time Iโm sure a lot of fighters saw that and said, โWell if Kell Brook can do it, maybe I can do it.โ And maybe thatโll given them some courage now to actually sign a contract,” said Tom Loeffler, Golovkinโs promoter. “Itโs a double-edged sword. If Gennady is so dominant nobody wants to fight him, it just makes it even more impossible to make the fight. So itโs definitely a two-way street.โ
Brookโs promoter Eddie Hearn added, โCaneloโs running from him. Itโs none of my business but as a fan I want to see Gennady Golovkin against Canelo. Itโs the biggest fight in world boxing. How can you ignore that fight and vacate your belt?โ
Golovkin would consider moving into a higher weight division at some point, but feels he has unsettled business at middleweight. โI have a dream. My goal is all the belts in the middleweight division. After yes, seriously,โ Gennady said. He might be forced to move up if the big fights for him remain so elusive.
โIf we canโt get the unification fight, if we canโt get another top name, I told Eddie, the James DeGale fight would be a great fight over here. We tried to make the Carl Froch fight a while ago, that would be a great fight,โ Loeffler said.
Golovkin’s mission continues.