Canelo vs. Golovkin 2 likely in Las Vegas

Boxingnews24.com

By Dan Ambrose:

K2 promoter Tom Loeffler was hoping that he could get the rematch for his fighter Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin against Saul Canelo Alvarez outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, but according to Dan Rafael, the rematch is likely going to be heading back to the T-Mobile Arena.

The Canelo vs. Golovkin 2 rematch will take place on May 5 on Cinco de Mayo. That plays into Canelo’s hands having the fight take place in May of 2018, as it means Golovkin will be almost 1 year older since his last fight with Canelo on September 16. Canelo didn’t want to fight Golovkin in a rematch in December 2017. Canelo wanted to sit for 8 months. Was this a planned move on Canelo and Golden Boy’s part to age the 35-year-old Golovkin a little more? Who knows? Only Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions know for sure. This works for Canelo now, but once he’s in his mid-30s like Golovkin, he won’t help himself if he continues to sit outside of the ring for 8 months consecutively. Canelo will be shooting himself in the foot if he’s still doing this in his 30s.

There’s probably not much Loeffler can do to get Golden Boy to agree to stage the Canelo-GGG fight outside of Las Vegas. Canelo is the A-side in the negotiations. As the saying goes, ‘you get what your promoter negotiates for you.’ It’s not about what you’re worth. It’s about how good a job your promoter does in getting the best deal for you. If Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler is unable to negotiate a deal for him to fight Canelo in a neutral venue like in New York at Madison Square Garden, then the fight is going to be heading back to Las Vegas.

If Loeffler and Golovkin refuse to fight Canelo in Las Vegas, then the Mexican star can move on and use that as an excuse to not have to fight Triple G. With Canelo only 27-years-old, he can wait out Golovkin until he’s older before restarting the negotiations for a fight with him. Golovkin is 35 now, so Canelo won’t have to wait too much longer before he’s aged enough for him to have little chance of winning the rematch. If Golovkin was in his 20s still, he could walk away from the Canelo negotiations and wait until he’s ready to fight at a neutral venue. That’s not the case though. Golovkin can’t afford to walk away from the negotiations because he might not get a second fight with Canelo until he’s too old to win.

Canelo-Golovkin took place in Las Vegas 3 months ago on September 16 at the T-Mobile Arena. The Canelo-GGG fight ended with the 3 Nevada Athletic Commission assigned judges scoring it a 12 round draw. It wouldn’t have been a problem if the draw was agreed upon by the boxing public, but the fans didn’t agree with it. They overwhelmingly felt Golovkin deserved the win.

Many of the boxing fans felt that Golovkin was robbed of a victory in Las Vegas. The results of the fight weren’t overturned by the sanctioning bodies or the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Golovkin was stuck with a draw that he felt was wrong.

Canelo and Golovkin will be fighting again, possibly under similar negotiating terms as the first fight. That works out well for Canelo obviously, because if he’d been a loss by the judges, the negotiating terms would likely be far different.

Potentially going back to Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena is going to put Golovkin in a situation where he might need to look for a knockout to make sure he doesn’t wind up in the same situation as last time in dealing with another controversial decision.

Despite being a 3-belt world champion, Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) is the B-side in the negotiations for the rematch with Canelo. Further, Golovkin will likely be getting far less money than Canelo.

It would still be in Golovkin’s best interest to make sure the judges have no say so for the outcome of the fight with Canelo.

About Author