Farhood Explains Why Canelo, Golovkin Need Each Other in 2017
By Edward Chaykovsky
Showtime analyst and 2017 Hall of Fame entrant Steve Farhood is optimistic that a mega-fight takes place in the fall between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) and Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs).
They are ongoing discussions, between Golden Boy Promotions and K2 Promotions, to stage that fight in September of this year during Mexican Independence Day weekend.
Canelo, who has the WBO junior middleweight title, is in talks for a potential catch-weight fight with countryman Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on May 6th, while Golovkin has a finalized HBO Pay-Per-View defense against mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs, which takes place on March 18th at New York's Madison Square Garden.
In the opinion of Farhood, Golovkin's resume of opponents is not overly impressive with none of his past victims being an A-level fighter. Jacobs is certainly his best opponent to date.
On the other side of the fence, Farhood details how Canelo's options - especially at junior middleweight - are very thin when considering that most of the top fighters at 154-pounds are aligned with rival network Showtime, and many of them are advised by Al Haymon - who Canelo's promoter has an active lawsuit against.
"I’m optimistic, and the reason is because they need each other. There aren’t a lot of guys for Golovkin to fight, he’s an amazing fighter but if you look at the victims on his list, there aren’t that many names that you say, “Oh that guy was special.” Golovkin just doesn’t have the quality of opposition," Farhood told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"Who is Canelo going to fight because of the politics? A lot of the better 154lb fighters are on the Showtime side of the street and Canelo is on the Golden Boy and HBO side of the street. I don’t know that there’s a lot of guys at 154lbs for Canelo to fight. I think they need each other and they’re going to make way more money fighting each other than anyone else, and it’s a fight the public wants to see, it’s probably the number one fight the public wants to see."
"I’m optimistic it’s going to happen, but by waiting so long they run the risk of it never happening at all, and we’ve seen that happen with a lot of big fights. I hope it happens in 2017."
