By Rick Reeno
On Tuesday, Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) acquired the WBC middleweight championship without throwing a single punch.
The World Boxing Council had ordered Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (47-1-1, 33KOs) to make a mandatory defense against Golovkin in the fall.
The sanctioning body had given both sides 15 days to reach an agreement. A purse bid was already scheduled for May 24th in Mexico.
The two sides were actively negotiating, but yesterday their discussions took a unexpected turn when Canelo announced that he was vacating the WBC title - because he and his team were dissatisfied with the WBC's looming deadline.
Because Golovkin owns the WBC's interim title at 160-pounds, the sanctioning body elevated him to full champion status. Golovkin also holds the WBA/IBO/IBF world titles.
According to Canelo, he is still very interested in facing Golovkin in the fall. The two sides will continue to negotiate the terms.
Abel Sanchez, the head trainer for Golovkin, is hoping a deal is reached. At the same time, he wants his fighter to stay very active - with at least three fights in 2016. Golovkin returned last month to blow out mandatory challenger Dominic Wade in two rounds.
Due to the fact that there is no longer a deadline involved with the ongoing talks, Sanchez does not want the negotiations to drag out - causing his fighter to sit on the shelf for an extended period of time.
"We now cannot sit around, and [Golovkin's promoter] Tom [Loeffler] cannot sit around, and wait for Canelo. We have go on with what we have to do. Just like with Andre [Ward]. Andre had a lot of situations and we couldn't finalize that fight. Now with Canelo - Tom cannot sit around and the Hermann brothers [who manage Golovkin] cannot sit around for Canelo to make up his mind. We have to set up a fight," Sanchez explained to BoxingScene.com.
"Golovkin needs to fight three times this year. He's not getting any younger. He has to fight three times this year and get all the belts. And then if it happens [with Canelo] in 2017, if that's when it's going to happen then that's when it happens."
If the Canelo negotiations go nowhere, there is no shortage of options for Golovkin at 160 and 168. There is already interest for a fall unification from WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders, and the WBA has promised to order a mandatory fight with 'regular' champion Daniel Jacobs [once Canelo is officially off the table]. And the WBC will likely order him to face top rated Jorge Senastian Heiland of Argentina.
"[If the Canelo fight is no longer there], I'm sure Tom is going to try to talk to those guys [in the UK] to see if Billy Joe will be our next one or Danny Jacobs is our mandatory under the WBA. That would be a heck of a fight in New York. We have two mandatories. We have a mandatory under the WBA and I believe there is going to be one for the WBC too....now that we've taken that title," Sanchez said.
