Loeffler: GGG will consider other options soon

Boxingnews24.com

By Sean Jones: Tom Loeffler says Gennady “GGG” Golovkin will soon be considering “other options” for his next fight in early 2018 if Saul Canelo Alvarez and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions don’t agree to the rematch. Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) and his promoter Loeffler have been waiting for Canelo and Golden Boy to confirm that they want the rematch on May 5 next year, but they’ve been unable to do that at the moment.

Golovkin wants to beat Canelo to prove he’s the better fighter of the two following their questionable 12 round draw last September in Las Vegas, Nevada. Golovkin felt he was the better man on the night, as did many in the boxing world. The fans seem to be largely behind Golovkin in seeing him as the winner of the Canelo fight. Canelo doesn’t seem to be bothered that the boxing public views him as being given a gift decision. He’s still not given the green light to GGG that he’ll take the second fight with him on May 5.

“There’s no hard deadline, but at some point we have to confirm other options if it looks like Canelo doesn’t want to get in the ring with GGG again,” Loeffler said to skysports.com.

Loeffler hasn’t given out any names of who the “other options” will be for GGG. There are some good fighters that Golovkin can take that would give him just as tough a fight as Canelo. Golovkin has his IBF mandatory Sergiy Derevyanchenko and WBC mandatory Jermall Charlo that he can fight next. Those would be very tough fights for Golovkin to take in early 2018. Golovkin hasn’t had an easy fight since his win over Kell Brook last year.

In GGG’s last two matches, he’s beaten Danny Jacobs and fought to a disputed 12 round draw against Canelo. If Golovkin faces Derevyanchenko or Charlo, he would be in his third straight tough match.

Loeffler has mentioned wanting to match Golovkin against WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Ryota Murata, but that’s a fight that probably won’t be available in early 2018. Murata’s promoters at Top Rank want to match him against Golovkin, but likely not this fast. The fight needs to be built up more by Murata defending his WBA title in the U.S against a well-known American fighter before a fight against GGG could take place.

Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya wants to wait until the December 16th fight between WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders and David Lemieux takes place before he makes a decision on whether to start negotiating the Canelo-Golovkin rematch.

“We will wait [to resume negotiations until] after Lemieux-Saunders,” De La Hoya said to ESPN Deportes. “After that fight we will think about it.”

If Canelo can win the WBO middleweight title off of the Saunders-Lemieux winner, he can use the title to get a better deal in the Golovkin negotiations. Canelo could also use the belt as a reason to not take the rematch with Golovkin. If Canelo decides not to fight Golovkin again, he looks better if he has a world title in his possession than if he’s just another contender. Never the less, boxing fans will have a hard time understanding Canelo not agreeing to fight Golovkin again. That won’t play out well with the fans.

Canelo-Lemieux is easy money for Golden Boy on HBO PPV. It’s a fight that Canelo can win without a high degree of certainty. Golovkin is a different story.

Golovkin showed in the previous September 16th fight against Canelo that he had too much size, ranginess and too good of a jab for the red-haired fighter to beat him. Golovkin’s engine was also too much for Canelo, who seemed only capable of fighting in brief spurts and not the full 3 minute rounds.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission assigned judges still gave Canelo many rounds based on his brief spurts of activity, which suggests that they didn’t care that he was being outworked for two-thirds of every round. Overall, 2 of the judges were more swayed by Canelo’s activity in the first minute of each round, and less impressed that he was seemingly tired and doing little in the remainder of the 3 minute rounds.

“We can’t put Gennady’s career on hold but [a rematch] is the priority,” said Loeffler.“Gennady wants a rematch because this left an unsatisfied taste. Canelo said he won’t fight until May but we have to see if he wants a rematch.”

It’s unclear why Canelo won’t commit to the rematch with GGG right now. It looks like he doesn’t possess the confidence to take the fight after the way he struggled last time. The look on Canelo’s face after the fight with Golovkin told one all they needed to know. Canelo looked upset in the same way he did after his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. Canelo wasn’t confident and smiling the way he normally does after he beats guys like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Amir Khan.

After the Golovkin fight, Canelo looked angry and upset, especially when the boxing fans at ringside started to boo him when he told them that Golovkin doesn’t punch hard. Canelo looked like a sour loser at that point. He wasn’t at all gracious at having been given a draw that he arguably didn’t deserve.

If Canelo doesn’t have the confidence to fight Golovkin again, then it explains his reluctance at telling Golden Boy promotions to start negotiating the fight. It all begins and ends with the 27-year-old Canelo. He’s the decider, and it appears that he doesn’t have the self-belief that he can win that fight.

Golovkin and Loeffler are open to coming back to Las Vegas for the rematch with Canelo, even though they feel that the judging wasn’t up to the standards that they’d been accustomed to. Golovkin and Loeffler want to be more selective in which Nevada State Athletic Commission assigned judges work the rematch.

“We wouldn’t be hesitant about coming back to Nevada but we’d be more selective with the officials that were assigned,” Loeffler said.

Loeffler should have been more assertive last September in the selection of the judges. After all, Canelo had fought in Las Vegas on 7 occasions prior to the GGG fight, and it was clear there was a huge imbalance between the two fighters in terms of what they meant to the city. Golovkin had never fought in Vegas before the Canelo fight. When Canelo fights in Vegas, he brings big money to the city.

Some boxing fans feel that it would have hurt the city and state if Canelo lost to Golovkin. Golovkin and Loeffler will likely need to agree to fight in Las Vegas again if they want the rematch. If Canelo and Golden Boy decide to play the A-side to the hilt, they can give Golovkin a take it or leave it offer by telling him that the rematch either takes place in Las Vegas or not at all.

There’s not much Golovkin will be able to do if they play that hand but to agree to fight in the city once again. Loeffler can still help Golovkin by being more selective in the judges the Nevada State Athletic Commission offers to work the Canelo-Golovkin rematch. There will be a lot of attention on the judging of the rematch between the two fighters. It’s unlikely that a second controversial decision will be turned in.