HBO Exec on The Rise of Golovkin, Securing Top Opponents
By Steve Kim
One of the conundrums in associating with a boxer such as Gennady Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs) is finding suitable opposition that is willing to step in the ring with the unified middleweight champion. Billy Joe Saunders, who holds the WBO belt, is the latest to eschew the chance to face Golovkin.
And it was revealed earlier this week that IBF's mandatory challenger, Tureano Johnson, won't be able to face him in the spring with a shoulder ailment that will require surgery.
Peter Nelson, the Executive Vice President of HBO Sports - and one of the early advocates of Golovkin - says of this dilemma to BoxingScene.com:
"It's always been the challenge, the goal has always been to try to bring in as great a talent as possible to the network. And Gennady, whether he has that talent or not, when we first brought him on the network, it was a test to see was he really what the people esteemed him to be and it wasn't our creation by any means. It was his amateur career, 350 fights, a silver medal at the Olympics, ten years of toiling over in Germany and Europe and it was an opportunity to see if he could hang with the level of opposition here."
Since Labor Day weekend of 2012, when Golovkin made his debut on the network by stopping Gzegorz Proksa in five rounds, GGG has made eight HBO appearances including a pay-per-view showcase this past October, when he halted David Lemieux in eight to add the IBF belt to his collection, which includes the WBA, IBO and WBC-interim titles.
It's unclear who Golovkin will face next. There are reports that Matt Korobov could be in the running. But it's clear that HBO is making Golovkin one of it's pillars of it's boxing franchise.
"While it's been frustrating, I think on their side in terms of trying to find dance partners, I also think it's been encouraging for them to know that the support is there from the fans. That as long as they go with the best man they can possibly find to fight, that he's then responsible for doing his job in the ring,"stated Nelson earlier this week.
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com
