By Edward Chaykovsky
Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs), holder of the IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight championships, believes Mexican superstar Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (47-1-1, 33KOs) - and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions - will be keep a very close eye on his upcoming fight.
Both fighters are scheduled to see action in the next few weeks. Their respective promoters have a verbal agreement in place to match their fighters next September.
Canelo will return to the ring on September 17th, when he challenges Liam Smith for the WBO junior middleweight world title at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Golovkin is going to defend his belts one week earlier, on September 10th, against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook at the O2 Arena in London.
Golovkin feels that a spectacular performance will steer Canelo and Golden Boy in another direction.
But if he struggles against Brook, Golovkin expects Canelo and Golden Boy to immediately call him out.
"If I look good, he's not ready yet. If I look terrible, he's ready. This is his strategy, Golden Boy strategy," Golvkin told the Los Angeles Times.
Does that mean Golovkin might intentionally look terrible against Brook?
"Maybe, sometime, maybe. Why not? Good strategy [to get Canelo]," Golovkin said while laughing.
Canelo, who held the WBC middleweight title at the start of the year, was ordered by the World Boxing Council to face Golovkin. The two sides agreed to take one interim-fight and then collide in the fall.
The fall match never happened after Canelo vacated the title and announced that he was moving back to 154 to face Smith. The WBC would later name Golovkin as the full champion at 160.
The two boxers have a verbal agreement to face each other next September.
