By Edward Chaykovsky
According to former two-division world champion Paulie Malignaggi, the handlers behind WBO junior middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (48-1-1, 34KOs) are waiting for Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (36-0, 33KOs) to get old.
Canelo, 26-years-old, is currently in talks to challenge 34-year-old Golovkin for his IBO/IBF/WBA/WBC middleweight belts next September. Golovkin turns 35 in April.
Golovkin would like the fight as soon as possible, but Canelo suffered a right hand injury during last Saturday's knockout of Liam Smith and won't return until next May - and Golovkin is not on the agenda for Cinco De Mayo weekend.
Malignaggi could see the fight being pushed back as late as 2018 - which is the same feeling recently claimed by Golovkin's head trainer Abel Sanchez - who also doesn't expect the fight to take place next September.
Golovkin is going to return on December 10th, possibly against WBA mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs in New York City.
“It’s not going to happen for at least a year, maybe two, it’s not going to happen. It’s obvious what’s going on if you use common sense. Canelo has the youth factor on his side. Canelo’s team knows that, so they’re going to smoke out Golovkin to see how long it takes Golovkin to start looking his age," Malignaggi told IFL TV.
"And when he starts looking his age, you still have a young man [on the other end]. Canelo was born in 1990, so he still has time on his side. He’s still only entering his prime. It’s so obvious what’s happening. I don’t know why people keep talking about this fight. It’s not going to happen until Golovkin finally starts showing just a little bit of his age, as he's getting older and older. Canelo’s team knows this. They have age on their side. They have the young man on their side."
"There’s no use talking about the fight until you start seeing it show itself, so lets talk about Golovkin and Danny Jacobs because that a more realistic fight and probably a better fight."
