THE respective teams of Gennady Golovkin and Billy Joe Saunders are still in discussions over a potential fight between the two – but the latter is sticking to his deadline of this Friday.
Plans for the fight – which would create an undisputed middleweight champion – picked up pace after ‘GGG’ outpointed Danny Jacobs a week-and-a-half ago.
However earlier this week Saunders announced that a deal must be struck by Friday or else he will look elsewhere and his promoter, Frank Warren, today confirmed to Boxing News that they are “absolutely” sticking with that.
“Bill is the WBO middleweight champion, he needs to be fighting. He will fight in June, whatever happens,” he said.
“We’ll be looking to make the biggest fight for him where he can make the most money.”
A Golovkin-Saunders fight has been mooted for June in Gennady’s native Kazakhstan. Earlier today Saunders stated that if the Golovkin talks fall through, he wants a fight with Puerto Rican superstar Miguel Cotto.
If @GGGBoxing gonna duck the fight love to fight @RealMiguelCotto
— billyjoesaunders (@bjsaunders_) March 29, 2017
Cotto – a former WBC middleweight champion himself – has not fought since his points loss to Canelo Alvarez in November 2015. He was scheduled to fight James Kirkland earlier this year but the bout was scrapped after Kirkland sustained an injury and Cotto has not yet secured his next fight.
Financial terms for Golovkin-Saunders have reportedly been agreed but there is still a way to go before the fight is sealed.
Warren would not be drawn of other options for Saunders aside from the unbeaten Kazakh, but he remains hopeful that a deal can be made for one of the best fights in the division.
Golovkin described a meeting with Saunders as his “dream fight” though Oscar De La Hoya, promoter of Canelo Alvarez, has said a June outing for ‘GGG’ could complicate a potential September fight with the Mexican superstar.
