By Miguel Rivera
IBF, IBO, WBC, WBA middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) admits that he's losing patience with dragged out discussions to stage a fight with Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs).
Canelo, following his big decision win over Miguel Cotto to capture the WBC middleweight title in November of 2015, said he was ready to face Golovkin. He reiterated the same statement after his knockout victory over Amir Khan in May 2016 and once again after his knockout of Liam Smith in September 2016.
Initially the big issue was the weight, with Canelo refusing to face Golovkin at the full middleweight limit of 160. Now the issue is money, with both sides attempting to reach a fair financial agreement.
The fight is targeted for September, during Mexican Independence Day weekend.
Golovkin was in action last Saturday at New York's Madison Square Garden, and won a twelve round decision over mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs. Canelo will be back on May 6th, when he moves up to 164.5-pounds to take on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Golovkin is not holding his breath on a fight with Canelo for the fall, and neither is his team, which is why they are scheduling another fight for June 10th. They want to avoid the same scenario as last year, where Golovkin wasted a lot of time in multiple negotiations that either failed or dragged on for too long - and as a result he only saw action twice in 2016. He traditionally fights three to four times per year.
At 35 years old, Golovkin realizes that time is not on his side.
"I'm losing interest in Canelo, because you know, I have a lot of experience in my career. You know, they talk a lot, they say a lot of trash. Canelo says he's very good, the best.. okay, why do you not fight me? I'm ready, I'm ready for anyone," said Golovkin to ESPN Deportes.
"[Canelo] says he is ready, he will call me tomorrow. I have waited for two years. It's a long time for me, this is not interesting."
