Golovkin-Jacobs: WBA President Gives His Take on The Situation

By Steve Kim

It was announced by the World Boxing Association on Wednesday afternoon that they had rejected the request of Danny Jacobs and his representatives to have the purse bid split with Gennady Golovkin modified from the standard 75-25 (in favor of Golovkin, who is the WBA 'super' champion at middleweight) to more favorable 60-40.

The purse bid for this fight is now scheduled for October 22nd. It's not clear if the WBA ruling helps or hinders this bout from becoming a reality. The hope is that this  HBO televised match-up takes place on December 10th in New York.

Gilberto Mendoza Jr. the president of the WBA told BoxingScene.com - "I think that's the best fight possible right now in the  middleweights, I don't take nothing away from Billy Joe Saunders (who is the WBO's belt-holder)."

Mendoza Jr. had made it clear after Golovkin's bout against Dominick Wade in April that it was his organization's turn to enforce their mandatory challenger. But instead Mendoza stayed on bench, because he didn't want to hinder the possibility of Golovkin reaching a deal to face Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez - which was ordered by the WBC,

"I stayed away because of the Canelo situation, I knew it was a good fight for the sport," Mendoza said.

At that point in time Golovkin was fully focused on facing the Mexican star who decided to vacate his WBC title and move back down to junior middleweight. So now the focus is on making Golovkin-Jacobs a reality.

"These are the kind of fights that have to happen and honestly I have faith that the fight will happen. I have faith that if it doesn't come by way of mutual agreement from both sides they will respect the purse bid," said a hopeful Mendoza.

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.