If Golden Boy founder and leader Oscar De La Hoya is to be believed, the highly anticipated rematch between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will not be happening this September. Instead Golden Boy is trying to work with Matchroom USA to bring Canelo back versus Daniel Jacobs on HBO PPV.
What a long and wild road it has been in the saga of Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) and Gennady Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs). For a couple years Canelo fought defending a middleweight belt at a 155 lb catchweight not so affectionately known by fans as Caneloweight while Gennady Golovkin ruled the division at its full, traditional 160 lb limit. Eventually when ordered to fight Golovkin by the WBC, Canelo chose instead to vacate the title instead. This led to a deafening chorus of ducking accusations from the boxing world directed at the Mexican superstar.
The two men finally met in September of last year to unsatisfactory results. The fight itself was a high level contest that most felt GGG narrowly edged out, but a controversial draw verdict fueled by a ridiculously wide, pro-Canelo scorecard from Adelaide Byrd left a sour taste in the collective mouth of the boxing public. Thankfully, few would have complained about a rematch and we were well on course for one this past Cinco de Mayo weekend.
Except, as is well known by now, that did not happen. The fight was agreed to, but in its build up Canelo failed a pair of drug tests for clenbuterol. The Mexican cited the very real problem of contaminated beef in his native country as the culprit, but obviously the tests raised suspicion regardless. Most believed the fight would go on anyway as per boxing history, but instead the Mexican star was surprisingly suspended and the Kazakh middleweight king needed a new opponent. In Canelo’s absence GGG thrashed inactive junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan in two in an uninspiring stay busy matchup.
Still, most assumed the rematch would take place this fall. Canelo typically fights twice a year, first on Cinco de Mayo and then on Mexican Independence Day weekend in September. There had been some rumblings that Golovkin was going to demand a tighter split of the money against his valuable rival as penance for the failed drug test and lost revenue in May, but it seemed at the time that this was the sort of thing the two camp’s could work out. Apparently not. Reportedly Golovkin has been demanding an equal, 50/50 revenue split. Originally he was set to get 35%. This seems to have doomed the fight for this September.
As much as Canelo has been a frustrating character in all of this, I do not blame Golden Boy or him for moving on here. 50/50 makes little sense given that Canelo is the pay per view attraction that will draw most of the money. Reportedly everyone from Canelo and Golden Boy to Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler will willing to compromise a bit, but not GGG himself. If everything being reported from the usually reliable sources like ESPN’s Dan Rafael is as accurate as normal, it is Gennady Golovkin specifically tanking this fight.
Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn has said he has now received an offer for top middleweight contender Danny Jacobs (34-2, 29 KOs) to take on Canelo on HBO PPV in September instead of Golovkin. Golden Boy head Oscar De La Hoya has confirmed. Hearn has been extremely positive towards the fight and seems to believe it is going to get done. As a fan, this is a great matchup even though I really want to see the rematch. I actually thought Jacobs very narrowly outpointed Golovkin last March anyway, though the fight was extremely close and I have no issue with the razor thing cards GGG got in the end. Somehow the script is flipping here. Canelo and Golden Boy becoming the good guys in a long story where they had always been viewed as the impediment to the fight everyone wants to see.
If Canelo and Jacobs do end up meeting in September, it stands to reason that Golovkin’s next opponent will likely be IBF mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko (12-0, 10 KOs). The IBF is strict and that fight is due. Derevyanchenko’s team has been pushing hard for it too. Had Golovkin gotten his big money rematch with Canelo Alvarez, he may have had to give up the IBF belt to do so by avoiding the Derevyanchenko fight. Now there could be no need. That’s a good fight too, albeit one where Golovkin isn’t going to make even a fraction of the money he would have made against Canelo if he had reached a deal for the rematch.
Of course, these things can change with the wind. Until either man signs on officially to do something else next, the rematch remains on the table. It does not sound likely though at this point.
