Loeffler says GGG still a broadcast free agent

By Jeff Aranow

Boxingnews24.com

Gennady Golovkin still hasn’t signed with a U.S broadcaster, according to promoter Tom Loeffler. Despite rumors that were circulating around the internet on Saturday about Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs) supposedly having signed with DAZN, those were fake news and not the reality. Loeffler says that as soon as Golovkin makes his decision about which U.S platform he wants to sign with, there will be an announcement. However, it’s widely expected that the 36-year-old GGG will sign with DAZN so that he can fight a trilogy fight with WBA/WBC middleweight champion Saul Canelo Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 KOs).

The biggest money fight out there for Golovkin is Canelo, and he has a rivalry with him after losing to him by a 12 round majority decision last September in their second fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the first Canelo-Golovkin fight, they fought to a 12 round draw in September 2017. A lot of boxing fans felt that Golovkin deserved the win in that fight.

“When Gennady decides what he wants to do, he’ll make the official announcement,” Loeffler said. “The best thing is to wait until there’s an official announcement. He’s the biggest in demand free agent [fighter] now. Whatever platform he goes to, he brings huge value.”

It would be surprising if Golovkin signed with Premier Boxing Champions to fight on FOX/FS1 or SHOWTIME or with ESPN instead of DAZN. If Golovkin chooses not to sign with DAZN, it could make things difficult when it comes to putting a third fight together with Canelo, who recently signed a five-year, 11-fight, $365 million contract with that company. Golovkin has options though. If he signs with PBC, his fights would be on SHOWTIME PPV likely, and he might wind up making really good money if he faces some popular fighters like Jermall Charlo or Callum Smith. Signing with DAZN would make sense for GGG if he gets a big enough contract to justify it.

It’ll look bad if Golovkin’s contract with DAZN is only a fraction of what Canelo received. With a lot of boxing fans thinking that Golovkin has already beaten Canelo twice and been robbed both times in Las Vegas, it would look bad if DAZN offered GGG a much smaller contract than the Mexican star. It would put Golovkin in a position would be basically validating the controversial scoring by the Nevada State Athletic Commission signed judges for his 2 fights with Canelo if he were to agree to a smaller contract than him. At the same time, DAZN would be putting themselves in position where they would potentially hae an over-the-hill fighter at some point if they sign the 36-year-old Golovkin to a five-year contract like the one Canelo recently signed. Golovkin is about to turn 37 in April, and he would be 42-years-old by the time he finishes a five-year contract. It’s possible that Golovkin will still be fighting at a high level when he’s in his early 40s, but not likely.

“Their fight [Canelo vs. Golovkin] is still one of the biggest fights in boxing,” Loeffler said. “He’s [GGG] the people’s champion now. He has no mandatory’s, and no sanctioning fees,” Loeffler said in putting a positive spin on Golovkin no longer being a world champion.

Canelo-Golovkin is definitely the biggest fight that can be made at the moment in the middleweight division. There’s no one popular enough at 154, 160 or 168 that could be matched against Canelo that would do better numbers than Canelo-Golovkin. The only guy that could be matched against Canelo that would do better numbers than Alvarez vs. Golovkin 3 is Floyd Mayweather Jr., but that’s not going to happen. Mayweather hasn’t mentioned wanting to come out of retirement to fight a rematch with Canelo. Mayweather might return to boxing to fight 5’6 1/2″ WBA World welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in 2019, but that’s because he’s small and old at 40-years-old. Canelo isn’t small compared to Mayweather, and he’s not old at 28.

“He [Canelo] did test positive on the test, that was the earliest that he’d ever been tested before,” Loeffler said about Canelo’s two positive tests for the banned performance enhancing substance clenbuterol in 2018.

Loeffler throwing in some information about Canelo’s two positive tests for clenbuterol from last year. The good news is that Canelo has signed up for VADA enhanced testing. Loeffler says he would like to have the dates the frequency of the testing announced so that the fans could know how frequently Canelo is being tested. It’s important if you’re Golovkin, because Canelo’s body looked so much different in his two fights with GGG than they did in any of his previous fights as a pro. Canelo had always had a slight coat of fat on him during his career before he fought Golovkin. But when Alvarez fought GGG for the first time 2017, he looked as cut up as Sylvester Stallone in his second and third Rambo movies years ago. Canelo looked like a body builder in his two fights against Golovkin, as well as in his fight with Rocky Fielding last December.

Tom Loeffler✔@TomLoeffler1

On the Sunny Santa Monica track with @dougiefischer Coach Dave first show of 2019 talking #boxing https://www.pscp.tv/w/bwt9njczODM0NDN8MWdxeHZuWk5Ycnp4QuKNSUHw3ELNrHMGMa-IVYL1tZYOv9-tvD8LRivzdgWf …422:40 AM – Jan 14, 2019Twitter Ads info and privacyTom Loeffler @TomLoeffler1On the Sunny Santa Monica track with @dougiefischer Coach Dave first show of 2019 talking #boxingpscp.tv16 people are talking about this

If Golovkin doesn’t sign with DAZN, it’ll make putting together a third fight with Canelo a lot more complicated. It would mean that whatever broadcast platform that Golovkin signs with would need to workout a deal with DAZN to share the fight. It would complicate things. The Canelo vs. Golovkin trilogy fight would still likely get made though, because there’s so much interest from the U.S boxing fans in seeing those two face each other again. There’s nothing that compares with it right now unless Canelo starts fighting MMA guys like Mayweather is doing.

The loss for Golovkin to Canelo in their second fight is going to make it difficult for the Kazakhstan fighter to get a good money split in the third fight. Golden Boy Promotions are going to use the win over GGG as an excuse to offer him a lower split than the previous fights. With the Canelo vs. Golovkin 3 fight to shown on DAZN, which isn’t pay-per-view, it makes it difficult to figure out where the money comes from to make it a worthwhile fight. For Canelo, he’s already set with his $365 million contract with DAZN. But if Golovkin is given considerably less, he would appear to be getting a bad deal if he can’t make $20 million from PPV money like he could if he were still on a network that has pay-per-view. Golovkin’s contract with HBO expired recently, and the networked decided they weren’t going to stay in the boxing business after 45 years.

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