GENNADY GOLOVKIN is the 29th most marketable athlete on the planet, according to SportsPro, while potential rival Canelo Alvarez is not included in their top 50.
The Kazakh wrecking ball recently signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Nike’s Air Jordan brand, and has also done advertising for the Apple Watch.
Golovkin’s and Canelo’s respective teams are currently locked in negotiations for what would be the biggest fight in boxing, though Canelo’s recent vacation of his WBC middleweight strap suggests his side may want to hold off on the contest for now.
Canelo, boxing’s biggest box office draw, would be the A side of that fight, though the recent revelation over Golovkin’s marketability adds further credence to the argument that the Mexican very much needs to face ‘GGG’.
SportsPro’s criteria for marketing potential is as follows:
- Value for money
- Age
- Home market
- Charisma
- Willingness to be marketed
- Crossover appeal
Their profile of Golovkin reads:
“With Manny Pacquiao and – for now, at least – Floyd Mayweather in retirement, the fight game’s biggest draw for fans and sponsors is Golovkin’s fellow middleweight Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. The teak-tough, strawberry blond Mexican has left his most obvious opponent to stew, in keeping with boxing’s best and most maddening traditions. Yet having coldly dispatched Britain’s Amir Khan – whose big talent and big heart could not compensate for a bigger jump in weight – in a May mega-fight, Alvarez would be fooling no one by denying his Kazakh nemesis a chance.
“If the two do meet, it will be a huge occasion and a chance for sponsors to flock to a fighter with burgeoning appeal. Golovkin, through his chilling knockout exploits in the ring and his abundant charm beyond the ropes, has won plenty of fans since making more regular appearances in the US. Were he to win an encounter with Canelo, his years in the relative wilderness might all have been worthwhile.”
