By Miguel Rivera
The president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), Mauricio Sulaiman, has given his seal of approval for Gary "Spike" O'Sullivan (27-2, 19 KOs), who is slated as the frontrunner to fight WBC, IBO, WBA, IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) on May 5.
Golovkin was slated to fight Canelo Alvarez in a rematch, but the Mexican superstar withdrew from the contest after being placed on a temporary suspension for testing positive for banned substance clenbuterol in February.
The May bout was going to happen at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas - but the contest is now shifting over to the StubHub Center in Los Angeles.
Sulaiman confirms that he was told the contest would head over to Los Angeles.
"Definitely the fight will not be in Las Vegas, the rules state that there is not enough time to do it there, so it heads to the state of California. They are desperately looking for an opponent to save the show. Golovkin deserves to fight after putting in so much work and preparation," Sulaiman said.
And Sulaiman feels O'Sullivan is a very worthy opponent.
"He is a good fighter, he has been ranked in the WBC, he must fill out the clean boxing paperwork to be accepted, but I think it will be a worthy fight. I hope he is approved because Golovkin deserves to defend his title," Sulaiman said.
"O'Sullivan was preparing to fight on May 4. He is a worthy opponent for a voluntary fight, he not a lackluster fighter or just some random boxer selcted to face the best in the world. He is ranked an ready to fight."
However, he feels a contest with Golovkin may be a bit too soon for young Mexican contender Jaime Munguia.
"Munguia is a great opponent, we do not know what he brings, but it would be too early for his career, and there are many other names around," Sulaiman said.
