By Victor Salazar
New York, NY- When it comes to ticket sales, it’s hard to argue that many can compete with IBO/WBA/IBF middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs). When he travels from coast to coast, a sold out venue is likely. After being the first non-Puerto Rican boxer to sell out Madison Square Garden in New York, Golovkin treks to the West Coast to familiar ground on April 23, at The Forum in Inglewood, California. His promoter Tom Loeffler, the managing director of K2 Promotions, expects a sell out crowd.
“The forum hasn’t been sold out since 1970,” Loeffler told BoxingScene.com. “If he can sell 16,000 in LA, he’ll be the first boxer to sell out the forum in the millennium. The word is if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.”
But what happens should he dispose of his IBF mandatory in Dominic Wade? With the biggest fight to make in boxing arguably being Golovkin versus Canelo Alvarez, a lot of questions have risen whether Canelo and his promoter Oscar De La Hoya want to make the fight. Factor in that Canelo is now facing a welterweight in Amir Khan at a catch-weight of 155 pounds for the lineal and WBC middleweight championship of the world, and the skepticism is there.
“Its business but that’s the question for WBC and Oscar. Either he fights Canelo or Khan or he gets the vacant title. If it was up to Gennady, we would have done it in May.”
Golovkin has been chasing the lineal title and the WBC title for a long time. Though frustration hasn’t seemed to set in, patience may be running short should Canelo or Khan not fight Triple G next at 160 pounds.
“We tried to do a fight with Sergio Martinez, they opted to fight Miguel Cotto at 159,” stated Loeffler. "Then Miguel Cotto fought Daniel Geale at 157. Then Cotto fought Canelo at 155. Now Canelo is fighting Khan at 155. It’s been a weird conglomeration for catch-weights for the WBC middleweight titles. Canelo-Golovkin is too big of a fight not to happen.”
With an upset possibility of Khan defeating Canelo and becoming the WBC king at 160, Loefller made it clear that however unlikely it is for Khan to be the winner on May 7th, the British superstar has to fight Golovkin next or vacate. There is a rematch clause, but Loeffler indicates that Golovkin is not willing to step aside any longer.
“The winner of Canelo and Khan has to fight the winner of Gennady and Wade. If Khan wins, he has to fight the winner regardless if there is a rematch clause, or he has to give up his title.”
