Canelo’s Camp Asserts It Wants GGG Fight In September
By: Sean Crose
According to ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Golden Boy Promotions, which represents Mexican star Canelo Alvarez, does indeed want Canelo to face feared middleweight terror Gennady Golovkin in September of 2017. “Hopefully,” Rafael quotes Golden Boy big shot Eric Gomez as saying, “everything goes well and then we get the Golovkin fight done for September.” While there’s no guarantee to be found in Gomez’ words, they do express an eagerness to make the fight fans want to see happen. In other words, there’s no hemming and hawing, no “we’ll see” or advocating for marination to be found.
Truth be told, a bout between the 48-1-1 Canelo and the 36-0 Golovkin for middleweight supremacy should have happened in 2016. Canelo, however, literally gave up his WBC middleweight title rather than face the man. The action did incredible harm to Canelo’s reputation. In short, people were rightfully upset. Still, as I wrote earlier, some of us have come around to the belief that Canelo is too much of a warrior to ultimately let the chance to face an unaged Golovkin pass by. That sort of thing just doesn’t seem in keeping with the guy’s nature.
In the meantime, it seems that team Canelo looks to get their man back in the ring early next year. Canelo was supposed to fight this month, but those plans had to be scratched due to a hand injury. Sure enough, Rafael’s article makes it clear that Golden Boy is wondering if Canelo can emerge in the ring up to three times in 2017. Add a date in May – between a winter match and the hoped for September clash with GGG – and Canelo’s schedule will prove to be a packed one for a contemporary fighter who is also a legitimate star.
As for GGG, it’s more of the same – at least for the time being – as the people behind hard hitting Daniel Jacobs appeared until just recently to be dragging their heels regarding a matchup between the two men. It was hoped that a Golovkin-Jacobs bout would go down late in 2016, but functional practices are foreign to the sport of boxing, and so that fight may still be in limbo. As is Golovkin’s career, it seems. For no top names at middleweight have proven ready, willing and able to face him. A Canelo bout is far from signed, the proposed Jacob’s fight appears to be going at a snail’s pace, if at all, and titlist Billy Joe Saunders has literally ceased to be taken seriously as a fighter in some, perhaps many, quarters.
Which, of course, leads people to ask when Golovkin will actually get to challenge himself. September is looking good, but earlier bouts with Jacobs and/or perhaps even Andy Lee would certainly prove to be interesting. In the meantime, Canelo looks to be keeping his schedule full, no doubt keeping in mind that all roads may now be leading to a certain Kazakh.
