Golovkin Keeps The Line Moving in Supremacy Quest at 160

By Jake Donovan

It’s not the fight he wanted, but the one that Gennady Golovkin accepted in order to keep the line moving. Armed with a goal of becoming the undisputed middleweight champion, he was burdened with the decision to take a less-desirable fight for the sake of keeping his titles intact, at leading into his April 23 mandatory title defense versus unbeaten but unheralded Dominic Wade.

The fight he wanted was the one he was promised late last year, a coveted showdown with recently crowned World middleweight champ Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Golovkin agreed to take on another fight while allowing Alvarez to step in – and dethrone – then-champ Miguel Cotto last November. The stipulation came with the promise of his getting next.

Next would be now, but Alvarez instead opted for a voluntary defense versus former 140 lb. titlist and current Top 10 welterweight contender Amir Khan. They will collide on May 7 at the newly constructed T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

By that time, Golovkin’s clash with Wade – which takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. – will have already been decided, the odds suggesting he will emerge victorious and remain next in line for the WBC title at stake in the Alvarez-Khan fight.

That is, unless more concessions are granted by the WBC to further prolong such a fight.

“We wanted the fight with Alvarez; it was their side who requested the voluntary defense,” Tom Loeffler, managing director of K2 Promotions pointed out to BoxingScene.com in discussing what led to Golovkin having to settle for a mandatory defense. “We also wanted a unification bout with (unbeaten WBO middleweight titlist) Billy Joe Saunders.”

Neither fight managed to materialize, the only such alternatives Golovkin – who has made 15 consecutive defenses of at least one belt among his 21 straight knockout victories - had to an inevitable mandatory title challenge.

Sanctioning bodies will accept requests for an exception to a mandatory defense in the event of a suitable alternative. If a mandatory isn’t due, then the defending champion can make a voluntary defense against the challenger of his choosing, so long as he’s a beltholder or ranked in the Top 15 of the champion’s or  a neighboring division.

As the IBF title inherited by Golovkin came with the obligation of a mandatory defense, it meant either facing the top-rated contender or secure a unification bout. He’d done just that in his win over David Lemieux last October, scoring an 8th round stoppage in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden to add the IBF belt to his WBA “super”, IBO (regular, as the sanctioning body only has one belt per division) and the WBC interim title.

Because Lemieux entered a unification bout in his first defense, Golovkin – as the winner – inherited the ordered title fight with the leading contender. At the time it was Tureano Johnson, who outpointed Eamonn O’Kane on the Golovkin-Lemieux undercard. Negotiations began only to come to a screeching halt when Johnson was forced to relinquish his ranking due to a recurring shoulder injury that will keep him sidelined for the next few months.

In came Wade (18-0, 12KOs), a former amateur standout who hails from Largo, Maryland. He remains largely obscure in the pro ranks, although his last win came over a former champion, scoring a split decision over Sam Soliman last June in their Showtime-televised bout.

Audiences might not be familiar with the mid-level contender – who turns 26 in April. 11 days before fight night – but have to at least respect his willingness to accept the one assignment that seems to get passed over by so many in and around the middleweight division.

“There was no hesitation at all in working out a deal with Dominic Wade and his team,” Loeffler noted. “We reached out to his promoter, Tom Brown (TGB Promotions), whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We were able to agree on all terms in about a week.”

The deal was able to get done for an HBO headliner despite the fact that Wade is advised by Al Haymon, whose fighters were effectively blacklisted from the network beginning in 2013. It appears that new leadership is slowly softening its stance on the unofficial banishment, at least as it pertains to one of its leading stars in claiming to “fully support Gennady Golovkin.”

Failure to do so would hinder his chances of remaining active, already going six months between fights. As Golovkin has remained committed to the network since his Sept. ’12 debut both on HBO and in the United States, the American cable giant in turn has done its part – particularly in recent years – to ensure that its fast-rising star is kept content and without restrictions.

On this particular occasion, it meant accepting his plans for a mandatory title defense, no matter who stood among his challenger’s team. It  was what Golovkin needed to do in order to keep busy and also keep his belts in tow, at least heading into fight night.

“Because his other options (a unification bout with either Alvarez or Saunders) were exhausted, we turned to Tureano Johnson as the appointed mandatory contender, which eventually became Wade after Johnson pulled out,” Loeffler explained of the process. “Failure to do so would have meant Gennady losing his IBF title that he just won, similar to what happened to (World heavyweight champion) Tyson Fury after beating Wladimir Klitschko for the belts.

“Fury was ordered to face Vyacheslav Glazkov, but gave up the title due to the rematch with Klitschko. We didn’t want to risk losing the title, so we proceeded with these plans. I approached HBO with the fight while working out terms with Tom Brown (head of TGB Promotions, Wade’s promoter), whom I’ve known for more than 20 years; we were able to agree on all terms in about a week.”

It’s not the most attractive option, but it is a necessary evil in the sport, at least if you want to retain all of your titles, as Golovkin chooses to do so.

“Dominic Wade is young and undefeated,” Loeffler points out; interestingly it’s the first unbeaten challenger Golovkin has faced as a middleweight titlist, and just the second overall in his career since turning pro in 2006. “He’s a four-time national amateur champion in the United States. In his last fight he beat Sam Soliman, who defeated Felix Sturm – a fighter we’ve wanted to face for more than two years.”

Golovkin started out as an interim titlist, but was quickly upgraded to full power once it became apparent then-middleweight beltholder Felix Sturm had no intention of facing him.

It’s the little things like accepting the challenge you’re given rather than the one you crave that has led to Golovkin’s incredible run atop the middleweight division. He’s made concessions in nearly every bout leading to – and including – his adventure next month.

That level of generosity will be toned down, if not disappear altogether come mid-May.

“The beauty of this arrangement is that Gennady gets another fight, and then doesn’t have to wait very long to negotiate a big one,” Loeffler explains. “Canelo Alvarez won the title last year and asked for an extension. He got that one as he faces Amir Khan.

“Now, it’s concrete that the winner of the Alvarez-Khan fight will have 15 days to work with us on a fight, or else they will lose the WBC title.”

Golovkin put himself in position to next challenge for the belt with his 2nd round knockout of Marco Antonio Rubio in Oct. ’14. The bout came with the rare precedent of a defending titlist being permitted to enter a final eliminator (in this case, disguised as an “interim” title fight).

He’s since retained that position with knockout wins over Martin Murray, Willie Monroe Jr. and most recently Lemieux. Now he hopes to do so versus Wade – and eventually Alvarez or Khan.

“Gennady is the interim champion,” Loeffler states aloud, perhaps as a firm reminder to those who choose to not remember. “We’ve patiently waited for his turn to fight for the WBC title. Next will be his turn, as long as he beats Dominic Wade. Once he does that, the (Alvarez-Khan) winner needs to work on a deal to face us or else leave behind the WBC title.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox