On Thursday, IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) shocked a lot of fans in the boxing community with his revelation that he was thinking of retiring after his fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) on September 16.
Golovkin’s comments kind of came out of the blue, as he’s still unbeaten and at the peak of his career. He’s still performing at a high level despite his last 2 contests being competitive ones against Danny Jacobs and Kell Brook. Golovkin was talking about him potentially retiring after a WIN over the 26-year-old Canelo, not a defeat. But it didn’t make sense at the time for the 35-year-old Golovkin to be speaking of him retiring from the sport, because he would be retiring without accomplishing his goal of winning all the world titles a 160.
Golovkin presently holds 3 of the 4 belts in the middleweight division. He just needs the WBO belt held by Billy Joe Saunders, who he says is “nothing.” Golovkin isn’t too worried about beating Saunders when the time comes if he still possesses the WBO strap by the time he’s done dealing Canelo his second loss of his career on September 16. Saunders is fighting on the same night against an opponent still to be determined at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.
“I don’t think so. I mean, he had kind of alluded to that but this is his dream fight,” said Loeffler to Fighthub. I think once he sees all the reaction he’s going to get from this fight here. I mean, you see the fan reaction, the media reaction. I think it’s just going to be one more step in his career.”
Golovkin has too much to accomplish for him to retire after he fights Canelo. Regardless of how the fight plays out, Golovkin can still do quite a bit with his career by NOT retiring. A rematch against Canelo would give Golovkin a chance to show the boxing world that he’s the better fighter. One fight might not be enough if it’s close or especially if it’s controversial in nature. It’s not easy to beat a fighter as popular as Canelo by a decision. That’s a something that’s been proven in Canelo’s fights against Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout and even Floyd Mayweather Jr. One judge scored the Mayweather vs. Canelo fight a draw. Golovkin could find himself in a similar circumstance. Whatever the outcome of the fight, GGG should definitely continue his career and look to fight Canelo a second time and then move forward to fight WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders if he’s still the guy holding the belt beyond September 16.
Canelo-Golovkin purse split rumored to be 70-30
The purse split for the Canelo vs. GGG fight is rumored to be 70-30 in favor of Canelo. Loeffler was asked about that on Thursday and he wouldn’t comment on it. If the amount is true, then it’s a fairly lopsided amount in Canelo’s favor. It’s surprising that Loeffler and Golovkin would agree to just 30 percent of the revenue considering how much Golovkin is bringing to the fight in terms of fan interest in the boxing world. If all Golovkin is getting is 30 percent of the revenue, then gives Canelo a great deal of money that he otherwise wouldn’t have if he weren’t fighting Golovkin. On top of the rumored 70-30 purse split, the rematch clause is also said to be one that favors Canelo. If he wins, he can move on without giving Golovkin a rematch. If Golovkin wins, then Canelo can press for a rematch.
“We’re happy that we got the fight,” said Loeffler. ”There were concessions on our side, there were concession on their side, but I think in the end the fans are the ones that win and this is, I think, Gennady’s career defining fight. I think it’s the biggest fight really on both sides career, right now, and the winner should really be the best fighter in the sport of boxing.”
The winner of the Canelo-GGG fight can be the best fighter in the sport as long as it’s not a disputed decision. Hopefully that’s not the case. The crowd is going to likely be a pro-Canelo crowd when the two fighters meet on September 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Golovkin is really popular in the New York area of the U.S. Canelo’s fan base is in California, Nevada and Texas.
Golovkin picked out a venue that will surely put Canelo in the position where the boxing crowd will be mainly rooting for him on fight night. Golovkin can still win a decision, but he might need to really make it clear that he’s the better fighter. Golovkin can’t afford to cut it close like he did in his last fight against Daniel Jacobs on March 18 in winning a narrow 12 round unanimous decision. That fight took place in New York where Golovkin is popular.
