By Keith Idec
Oscar De La Hoya hadn’t heard or read before a conference call Tuesday that Gennady Golovkin is unlikely to fight Billy Joe Saunders on June 10 in Kazakhstan.
Canelo Alvarez’s promoter considers that news encouraging as it relates to making an Alvarez-Golovkin fight for September 16. De La Hoya wouldn’t say much else, however, about Golovkin skipping the Saunders fight and how that move might impact ongoing negotiations for Alvarez-Golovkin.
“All our focus is on Canelo and Chavez,” De La Hoya said during a conference call to promote Alvarez’s fight against fellow Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on May 6 in Las Vegas. “I actually didn’t even know he was not gonna fight in June. That’s obviously a great indication, but our focus is on Canelo and Chavez.”
According to a report posted by Yahoo! Sports on Monday night, sources have indicated Golovkin won’t fight Saunders in what would be a full middleweight championship unification fight June 10 in Golovkin’s native Kazakhstan.
Tom Loeffler – managing director for K2 Promotions, Golovkin’s promoter – was negotiating with Frank Warren, Saunders’ promoter, prior to Golovkin’s tougher-than-expected fight against Brooklyn’s Daniel Jacobs on March 18 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Warren has said most of the details were worked out, and that he and Saunders have been waiting since the Jacobs fight to get Golovkin’s signed contract back from Loeffler.
In the immediate aftermath of his unanimous-decision victory over Jacobs, Golovkin indicated he wanted to fight England’s Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs) in his next bout because it has long been his goal to own all of boxing’s recognized middleweight titles.
Warren told iFL TV last week that he was informed Golovkin was injured and might not be able to fight Saunders on June 10. Abel Sanchez, the 35-year-old Golovkin’s trainer, told Yahoo! Sports in the aforementioned story that Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) is suffering from general soreness following the first 12-round fight of his 11-year professional career against Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs).
However Golovkin feels physically, De La Hoya has stated that a Golovkin-Saunders bout June 10 would eliminate the possibility of a long-discussed Alvarez-Golovkin fight in September because Golovkin could suffer a cut or an injury that could force a postponement. De La Hoya also said that a Golovkin-Saunders fight June 10 wouldn’t leave enough time to properly promote a high-profile, pay-per-view event like Alvarez-Golovkin.
As for Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs), he wouldn’t discuss a potential fight against Golovkin on Tuesday, either.
“I’m not focusing on any other fight,” Alvarez said, “but the fighter I have in front of me.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.