Team Golovkin Respond To Peter Quillin's Claims

By Steve Kim

Tom Loeffler, the managing director for K2 Promotions and the engineer of Gennady Golovkin's rise to prominence the past couple of years, read with great interest the latest comments of former WBO middleweight belt-holder, Peter Quillin, who questioned the market value of Golovkin and what he brings to the table financially( https://www.boxingscene.com/quillin-golovkin-bring-much-money-table--85778 )

To which Loeffler responded to BoxingScene.com - "Gennady has established himself as one of the most popular boxers in the sport. He headlined at Madison Square Garden, the big arena, he headlined  and sold-out - beyond capacity - at the StubHub Center, so it's a little bit curious that Peter would say something like that but I think it's becoming a convenient excuse for somebody that doesn't want to fight Gennady."

On the issue of what 'Triple G's dance partners get paid for facing him, Loeffler stated:

"I'd say Gennady's opponents are the highest paid in the middleweight division outside of a pay-per-view fight. When you look at what (Mathew) Macklin got paid, when you look at what (Daniel) Geale got paid, when you look at what (Marco  Antonio) Rubio got paid, I mean, they're getting paid the most - by far - to challenge for a middleweight title."

So did the above-mentioned trio get paid more than what Quillin claims were the purses for Andy Lee and Matt Korobov when they clashed on the night of December 13th?

"Oh, absolutely, that was a vacant title, both guys were looking to fight for the vacant title. Andy Lee would've made a lot more when we were talking to them about fighting Gennady in April. He would've made a lot more but we have to overpay opponents because Gennady's considered the most dangerous boxer in the sport, right now, with 18 knockouts in a row," said Loeffler to BoxingScene on Tuesday afternoon."

"It's a pretty good bet that whoever gets in the ring with him will get knocked out and that includes fighters who have never got stopped in their careers before. We look at that streak continuing for a long time."

Golovkin is slated to face Martin Murray on February 21st in Monoco. The goal for Golovkin in 2015 is to try and consolidate the middleweight titles. Ironically, Lee and Korobov fought for a title that was dropped by Quillin, who turned down a career-high payday of $1.4 million to defend his WBO belt against Korobov.

So without a title, does Quillin even interest Golovkin anymore?

"I tell ya, it was a lot more interesting when he had a title," admitted Loeffler. "That's been Gennady's goal, to unify the titles.(Quillin) is an undefeated middleweight but not nearly the magnitude if he had a title as a unification fight."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.