De La Hoya To Call Golovkin's Reps Sunday To Start Negotiations

By Keith Idec

LAS VEGAS – Oscar De La Hoya adamantly promised during the Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan post-fight press conference Saturday night that he and Alvarez are beyond serious about boxing Gennady Golovkin next.

De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions represents Alvarez, assured the assembled media that he will call Golovkin’s representatives Sunday morning and begin negotiations for the middleweight showdown the vast majority of fight fans want to see. The weight at which the fight would be contested figures to be a significant issue during negotiations.

Kazakhstan’s Golovkin, the interim WBC middleweight champion, said again Saturday night that he won’t fight Alvarez below the middleweight limit of 160 pounds. Alvarez, the WBC middleweight title-holder, has repeatedly stated that he’s not a real middleweight and wants to fight Golovkin closer to the 155-pound limit at which he has defeated England’s Khan (31-4, 19 KOs) and Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs) in his two “middleweight” title fights.

“That’s the conversation I will be having [Sunday],” De La Hoya said following Alvarez’s spectacular sixth-round knockout of Khan at T-Mobile Arena. “I’m not going to talk about details. I’m not going to talk about what we’re gonna talk about. Those negotiations will happen behind closed doors, and if, when we come to an agreement, we will let everybody know.”

The WBC has mandated that promoters for Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) and Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) have 15 days to come to an agreement or the fight will go to purse bid later this month. De La Hoya hopes it doesn’t come to that, though, and insisted that Alvarez’s desire to fight Golovkin is legitimate, not just tough talk.

“You heard Canelo after the fight calling out Golovkin,” De La Hoya said. “He even wanted to fight him in the ring, right now, tonight. That’s the fight to make. And [Sunday], I will make the call. I will start negotiating and I really hope that we can come to an agreement.”

The former six-division champion reiterated that he is fully focused on making Alvarez-Golovkin next.

“That’s the fight you guys want, correct?,” De La Hoya asked. “I have all of his representatives’ numbers on speed dial. If that’s the fight that everybody wants to watch, if that’s the fight that Canelo wants, then I will get some well-deserved rest [Saturday night] and wake up early in the morning and start making my phone calls.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.