CANELO VS GOLOVKIN BOXING NEWS UPDATE

This week Manny Pacquiao was elected to Senate in his native Philippines, all but rubber-stamping his determination to retire from boxing after his victory over Timothy Bradley this spring. canelo vs golovkin

This, combined with Floyd Mayweather’s apparent reluctance to cancel his own retirement (again) for anything less lucrative than a crossover freakshow vs UFC star Conor McGregor, means the sport has a large hole to fill at the top of its box office charts. Within the space of six months or so, the two top pound-for-pound performers and most recognisable stars hung up their gloves.

It seems as though boxing’s immediate plan to replace its biggest draws revolves around two other gentlemen in the top 5 P4P - Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez of Mexico and Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan. It also revolves around the fact that the two, much like Mayweather and Pacquiao, are compatible to one day do battle against one another.canelo vs golovkin live

This week, the road to Canelo-GGG gained another resemblance to Floyd-Manny as Alvarez vacated his WBC middleweight title, a belt for which Golovkin was the next mandatory challenger. This all but removed the two fighters from collision course, despite the hype for such a bout beginning in 2015.

Golovkin is now recognised as the full champion by WBC, having previously been made interim champion under Canelo. This was because Canelo’s promoter, Oscar de la Hoya, successfully petitioned for the authorities to allow such a fight to be built up, rather than rushed. His man instead knocked out Amir Khan this month, causing the WBC to add another name to their middleweight lineage due to the Khan bout being fought at a catchweight. Nonetheless, that belt was on the line, had Khan pulled off the upset.
Confused? Good. That seems to be what they were going for. canelo vs golovkin live stream

And that’s why I cannot bring myself to the conclusion many have over Canelo’s (or, more likely, his promotional team’s) decision: that Alvarez is dodging the megafight with Golovkin to avoid the risk of a reputation-damaging defeat to the hard-hitting European.

That’s not to say the vacation isn’t frustrating. These manoeuvres in boxing always leave the fans feeling messed around when the formula, surely, is very simple. Of course, negotiations for such a bout can be a migraine for all involved - look at how long it took us Brits to get Frampton vs Quigg - and that seems to be the stumbling block here. canelo vs golovkin ppv

But, that fight happened, eventually, because it ultimately made business sense. And I remain optimistic that this is the aim of Camp Canelo in the long run.

Is Alvarez doing what Riddick Bowe famously did in 1992 with the help of a rubbish bin, to avoid fighting Golovkin the same way Bowe never did take on Lennox Lewis in what would have been a huge heavyweight showdown at the time? The fighter’s own quotes offer a glimmer of hope that there is a method to his madness.

“After much consideration, today, I instructed my team at Golden Boy Promotions to continue negotiating a fight with Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin and to finalize a deal as quickly as possible,” Alvarez said. canelo vs golovkin pay per view

“I also informed the WBC that I will vacate its title. For the entirety of my career, I have taken the fights that no one wanted because I fear no man. Never has that been more true than today. I will fight ‘GGG’ and I will beat ‘GGG’ but I will not be forced into the ring by artificial deadlines.
I am hopeful that by putting aside this ticking clock, the two teams can now negotiate this fight, and ‘GGG’ and I can get in the ring as soon as possible and give the fans the fight they want to see.” canelo vs golovkin fight

Suddenly, the situation makes a little more sense - assuming, of course, Alvarez really is keen to make this blockbuster bout happen.

That said, while his promoters have given us plenty of reason to suspect their motives in the past (many believe De La Hoya is the main reason this fight hasn’t already happened), Canelo’s own reputation is quite respectable.

This is a man, after all, who refused to fight on the undercard of Mayweather vs Guerrero in 2013, mere months before he was hoping to be Floyd’s next challenger. Instead, he had his team book him as the main event of a separate card in Texas which drew pretty well in its own right. Weeks later, Floyd gave him the next shot. canelo vs golovkin boxing

Meanwhile, recent Canelo victim Khan spent the better part of two years asking Mayweather “how high?” whenever he was instructed to jump. He never received that big payday vs ‘Money’, and probably now never will.
This anecdote seems to back up Alvarez’s stance that he is doing the right thing to cut out red tape and politics in the long run. And a fight like Canelo-Golovkin could be the biggest the sport can offer in this half of the decade. canelo vs golovkin hbo ppv

It, admittedly, could really do with that extra time to build hype if it wishes to perform anywhere near the business of boxing’s all-time top 10 PPV draws, but it also runs the risk of overdoing it like Mayweather and Pacquiao themselves did over six long years (not that the numbers were harmed, to be fair) or, worse, of being completely wasted like Bowe vs Lewis was.canelo vs golovkin hbo pay per view

It’s clear that Golovkin would take the fight tomorrow, if offered. Now it’s time for Alvarez to prove that his tactics are touches of promotional genius, rather than irrepairable damage to his public image purely to ensure that Mayweather remains the only defeat on his record. http://www.canelovsgolovkin.us/