By Yuri Tarantin
Oleg Hermann, manager of WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, believes the WBA will approve former beltholder Daniel Geale as the next opponent for his boxer.
Golovkin's return is being positioned for July 26 at New York's Madison Square Garden. Last week the sanctioning body ordered Golovkin to make a mandatory defense against Jarrod Fletcher. Golovkin's promoter, K2 Promotions, submitted a request to the World Boxing Association to obtain a special permit to stage a defense against Geale in July.
"We have the date on HBO, we signed a contract with the Madison Square Garden for July 26 and we are working to get the most interesting opponent. We can't face Fletcher [because HBO will not accept him] and we can't change our plans. I think everybody understands [the situation]. I am confident that the WBA will allow us to have the fight with Geale," Hermann said.
If a deal for Golovkin-Geale gets finalized, Hermann says a press conference is tentative for June 5 in Los Angeles and then the 7th of June in New York.
Regarding a unification with WBO champion Peter Quillin. Hermann says the situation with the two fighters being aligned with different cable networks was a stumbling block in making the fight. Quillin fights exclusively on Showtime and Golovkin on HBO.
"We made a good offer to Richard Schaefer (CEO of Golden Boy Promotions). But the next day he said that they want to arrange [a bid] between channels, the winner [who offers the most money] will receive the rights to broadcast the fight between Golovkin and Quillin. The proposed option was not acceptable to us, because the team is not going to turn away from their partners on HBO, whose support Gennady can always count on," Hermann said.
"Additionally, the popularity of Quillin much lower than Gennady in the United States, and the two of them can not even be compared. If Quillin would not have a belt we wouldn't even hear about him being mentioned in the press alongside high profile names like Golovkin and Martinez. Not to mention, Quillin is an undercard fighter who has not yet headlined a single event."
Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru
