By Steve Kim

As WBA/IBF/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs) continues his quest to unify the division, he's having some problems finding well-known and marketable foes for the time being.

Recently the name of Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2, 32KOs), who at 51 is looking for one last fight, was mentioned.

Tom Loeffler, the managing director of K2 Promotions confirmed to BoxingScene.com last week,"Bernard actually expressed interest in fighting Gennady."

So are the feelings mutual?

"It's an interesting fight, Bernard's a legend within the sport. But we have to get this IBF mandatory out of the way and we would always consider that,"said Loeffler, who is expected to formally announce Golovkin's April 23rd bout against Dominic Wade next week at a press gathering in Los Angeles.

So for the time being, any thoughts of 'GGG' facing Hopkins is being tabled. But Loeffler did state - "Look, Bernard's the biggest name (Sergey) Kovalev fought so it would be a great opponent for Gennady."

This proposed bout would take place at 168 pounds.

But does this go against their stated goal of collecting all the belts in the middleweight division?

Loeffler explained - "I've always said that if there's a middleweight champion willing to fight him, it's always going to be the priority. If (Billy Joe) Saunders isn't going to fight, if 'Canelo's (Saul Alvarez) is not going to fight, we would consider a marketable name at 168 and Hopkins is more active than (Andre) Ward is, so it makes sense."

Hopkins has fought four times since 2013, including his last fight in November 2014 where he became the first fighter to take Kovalev the full twelve round distance. Ward has only fought twice in that time period due to injuries and promotional issues.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.