By Edward Chaykovsky
Former two division world champion and Golden Boy Promotions executive Bernard Hopkins is hoping that Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez vs. Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin takes place in the fall of 2017.
There are ongoing talks to stage that fight next September, during Mexican Independence Day weekend.
Canelo (48-1-1, 34KOs) fought last month, when he dropped back down to junior middleweight and captured the WBO championship with a knockout of Liam Smith, while Golovkin (36-0, 33KOs) also saw action one week prior - with a fifth round stoppage of IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook.
Golovkin is now planning to defend his IBF/WBC/WBA/IBO middleweight titles on December 10th, potentially against mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs - although that fight could be pushed back to 2017.
Canelo injured his right hand in the win over Smith, and that prevent him from making a year-end return. There are rumors that he might attempt to fight in the first quarter of next year, but most expect him to fight again on Cinco De Mayo weekend in May, and then in September - presumably with Golovkin if the two sides are able to reach an agreement.
At the moment they are at odds over the money. Golovkin was offered a flat fee offer of $10 million to face Canelo on HBO Pay-Per-View. He is not in favor of a flat fee and wants to get a percentage split of the overall revenue.
According to Hopkins, boxing needs this kind of fight to boost it's credibility, because so many critics claiming that his sport is not capable of putting big fights together.
"I hope it will [take place next year]. I hope it will because the fans want to see it and I want to see it. It's a fight that won't save boxing, but it will give it a lot more credibility and remove any suspicions that we can't make big fights... until it's too late. And hopefully it won't be too late," Hopkins told IFL TV.