By Jake Donovan
At the risk of being a buzzkill, the plan leading up to this year’s middleweight super fight not only pales in comparison to how we reached that point a year ago, but is a step in the wrong direction.
The quick and easy story line behind the two middleweight matchups leading to a hoped-for September showdown between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is that both are heading towards title defenses versus boxers advised by Al Haymon.
But what does it say of the presented matchups when promotional/advisory affiliation serves as the chief selling point?
Golden Boy Promotions made the surprise announcement on Tuesday that Alvarez would make the first defense of his lineal middleweight championship versus former 140 lb. champ and current welterweight contender Amir Khan. Meanwhile, an announcement is expected to come in the next few days that – barring a drastic turn of events – Golovkin, now a unified middleweight titlist, will make the 16th defense of at least one belt versus makeshift mandatory challenger Dominic Wade.
Khan (31-3, 19KOs) fought under the Golden Boy banner from 2010-2014, having also signed with Haymon in 2014. An implosion at Golden Boy Promotions led to a massive internal reconstruction, while no longer doing business with the high-powered adviser, against whom the California-based company has filed an ongoing $300 million antitrust lawsuit.
A significant part of the deal meant all of the Haymon-advised fighters fleeing the coop, including Khan – a 2004 Olympic Silver medalist for Great Britain who has been out of the ring since last May.
Wade (18-0, 12KOs) - who trains out of the Washington D.C. area and lives in Largo, Maryland – was a highly decorated amateur in his day and presently serves as a rising middleweight contender. He is promotionally represented by Tom Brown these days, but generally takes his marching orders from Haymon, with whom he signed an advisory pact in 2013.
In fairness, Khan and Ward each deserve a tremendous amount of credit for their willingness in embracing such dangerous challenges. Khan passed on a guaranteed crack at newly crowned welterweight titlist Danny Garcia – a free pass at what would’ve been a chance to avenge a July ’12 knockout loss – as well as the floated idea of pursuing another welterweight belt, one held by unbeaten countryman Brook.
Meanwhile, Wade had the chance to say no thanks to the proposal of a title fight with Golovkin. On the Haymon/Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) side is secondary middleweight Daniel Jacobs, as well as what would have been a decent payday against any other Haymon-advised middleweight contender.
Instead, he chose to run towards the sound of gunfire against the man regarded as the best middleweight in the world – and one whom few of his peers are in a hurry to fight.
Given the background of the opponents (or proposed candidates, in Wade’s case) it’s a big deal since both fights will take place on HBO. The old guard at the network turned off the faucet for Haymon’s stable in 2013, the move coming at a time when a Golden Boy company being led by CEO Richard Schaefer was in the process of funneling its stable of fighters to Showtime.
The new look Golden Boy Promotions – one that no longer includes any traces of Haymon’s fighters or former CEO Richard Schaefer, who resigned in June ’12 – has changed its network affiliation, bringing its major stars back on HBO. Chief among them was Alvarez, who in Sept. ’14 signed what was vaguely described at the time by Golden Boy CEO and founder Oscar de la Hoya as an historic deal.
Just two fights have come of it, but both have helped reestablish his star power. A 3rd round knockout win over James Kirkland last May served as not only the highest-rated cable TV fight of 2015, but also the most watched HBO boxing event since 2006 as more than 2 million viewers tuned in. Another 30,000 or so were in attendance at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas for an event that came just four days after the Cinco de Mayo holiday.
Alvarez’ original plans for a May date was a mouthwatering showdown with Miguel Cotto, who became the first boxer ever from Puerto Rico to win titles in four weight classes following his 10th round stoppage of Sergio Martinez in their June ’14 World middleweight championship at Madison Square Garden. The fight never materialized, but a contingency plan led to Alvarez and Cotto both appearing in separate HBO headliners.
One month after Alvarez tore through James Kirkland, Cotto enjoyed a similarly highlight reel-level destruction of former middleweight titlist Daniel Geale. The bout took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Cotto’s first at the venue after many of his past New York appearances have come at Madison Square Garden. Nevertheless, a sizeable crowd was on hand, along with a peak audience of more than 1.6 million viewers watching at home.
It seemed like a can’t miss formula – two of the most popular fighters in the sport destined to face one another, enjoying explosive knockout wins live on HBO to build towards a Pay-Per-View event later in the year in Las Vegas.
They ultimately squared off in November, ending with Alvarez becoming the first boxer from Mexico to win the World (lineal) middleweight championship following a 12-round decision win. The event pulled in a live gate of nearly $12.5 million, along with an estimated $58 million in PPV revenue.
The fight itself didn’t live up to its lofty expectations, but in the end the viewers at home were given the fight they wanted. They reached that point without having to come out of pocket (outside of a monthly HBO subscription) and were given two entertaining – if not one-sided – fights in the process.
An additional bonus – or so thought those fans who continue to hold out hope that boxing will one day habitually do the right thing – came in the form of Golovkin serving as the mandatory challenger to the WBC belt Alvarez collected in his win over Cotto. It was a status enjoyed by the unbeaten knockout artist from Kazakhstan, dating back to his two-round destruction of Marco Antonio Rubio in Oct, ’14. The bout was taken essentially for no other reason than to ensure he would have a clear path towards one day collecting all of the middleweight belts.
His first true unification bout came last October, when David Lemieux was on the short list of willing middleweights to embrace a head-on clash with Golovkin. The bout served as the first PPV event for both fighters, ending with Golovkin forcing Lemieux into submission inside of eight rounds in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden.
Various options were discussed for Golovkin’s next ring appearance, given that he and Alvarez – instead of being ordered by the WBC to next face each other – were granted interim fights. One such idea was going after another middleweight belt, the WBO strap recently collected by unbeaten Billy Joe Saunders of Great Britain.
The fight never materialized, nor did an ordered mandatory title defense versus International Boxing Federation (IBF) mandatory contender Tureano Johnson, who earned that spot following a win over Eamonn O’Kane on the Golovkin-Lemieux undercard. Just as talks were underway, Johnson – who represented his native Bahamas in the 2008 Beijing Olympics was forced to withdraw from negotiations due to a recurring shoulder injury that heal in time for a springtime return.
With that came the order from the IBF to open negotiations with its next highest-rated contender, which would be Wade. Should he get the assignment, it will mark his first crack at a world title, as well as his debut on HBO.
The unbeaten boxer – who turns 26 in April – could one day go on to do great things. It’s possible his fighting style even gives Golovkin more trouble than anyone else in his current tour of destruction that has generated 20 consecutive knockout wins to date.
For now, it’s a wild guess as his lone step up in class resulted in a narrow points win over faded former middleweight titlist Sam Soliman last June. His lack of credentials or profile make it a tough sell, with the mere suggestion of the still-negotiated matchup not being well-received at the moment by boxing fans at least through social media.
The announcement of Alvarez facing Khan was met with an interesting reaction, though largely from those surprised that Khan was even in the running.
Most cited his affiliation with Haymon as means to not even consider him in the hunt. There’s also the part where he’s never before campaigned at middleweight, although Alvarez can barely make that claim himself, with this marking his fourth straight catchweight bout just north of the super welterweight division.
Still, Khan – while once a top player in the 140 lb. super lightweight division – had never established himself as a truly top welterweight. Just three wins have come at the weight, none more recent than his competitive points win over modest-punching former 140 lb. titlist Chris Algieri last May.
The showdown with Alvarez will come at the tail end of a 48-week inactive period and nine pounds above the heaviest he’s ever weighed for a prizefight.
Oh and it will air live on HBO PPV.
The price has yet to be determined but it won’t be any cheaper than $50. This means that fans are essentially being asked to pay for a high-profile showcase leading to what will undoubtedly be a far more expensive PPV event in the fall.
Before Alvarez gets to that point, he and Golden Boy will have to go to court for its latest round with All-Star Boxing, who used to represent Alvarez and has filed a lawsuit against both the fighter and the promoter. The case has been delayed several times, but never dismissed outright as All-Star Boxing believes to have an airtight case. They will have their day in court on May 23.
Given that dynamics as well as the candidates chosen (or in Golovkin’s case, being discussed), it goes back to the question of why Alvarez-Golovkin was never mandated to begin with.
It’s great for Khan and Wade that such opportunities have come their way. However, straight away head-on collision would have given boxing fans the fight it truly craved, without having to spend any more time or money than necessary.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox