By Francisco Salazar
In the wake of Gennady Golovkin’s expected knockout win over Dominic Wade this past Saturday, more and more fans have been clamoring for the popular Kazakh fighter to face Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Those fans will likely get louder should Alvarez get by Amir Khan on May 7 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Social media exploded Saturday night, not so much for the three knockdowns Golovkin scored against Wade in almost two rounds of action, but what he said in the post-fight interview - “Give me my belt.”
Golovkin said this in reference to Alvarez and the WBC middleweight title. Alvarez will defend the title against Khan at a catch-weight of 155 pounds.
In the past, particularly for Miguel Cotto, Golovkin and his team have taken step-aside money with the promise they would get an eventual crack at the belt. Alvarez’s defense is a voluntary one and it will be interesting to see if Alvarez will follow through with the WBC mandate that the winner of Alvarez-Khan will fight Golovkin.
Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Alvarez, is all for the fight happening, but at the opportune time.
“As far as I’m concerned, the fight will happen,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com in a recent interview. “I’m not going to let the fight over-marinate, to quote Bob Arum, but this is a fight that needs the right build-up and it will happen at the right time.”
De La Hoya has mentioned in the past that he will make fights that the fans want to see. It is pretty safe to say a fight between Golovkin and Alvarez is at on the top of that list.
The question is when will that fight take place?
De La Hoya seemed inclined over the last few weeks that a fight between Golovkin and Alvarez would take place in May of 2017. Because of high demand, De La Hoya told Maggie Gray of SI NOW in an interview yesterday that talks could begin with Tom Loeffler and K2 Promotions, which represents Golovkin, the day after the Khan fight.
The public demand for the fight is so great there is no way this fight does not happen. Many fans on social media have expressed in the last couple of days they would be content if a proposed date is penciled in within the next 12-14 months.
When the fight eventually gets finalized, it will likely take place at AT&T Stadium (home of the Dallas Cowboys) in Arlington, Tex.
If things are bigger in Texas, then this venue could not be a better place to host this fight.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
