By Keith Idec
Oscar De La Hoya insists he won’t wait any longer for Gennady Golovkin.
Canelo Alvarez’s promoter told ESPN.com on Tuesday night that he has abandoned hope of salvaging an Alvarez-Golovkin middleweight championship rematch for September 15. Instead, Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez has sent a formal offer to Daniel Jacobs’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, for an Alvarez-Jacobs fight that night.
De La Hoya said he turned to Jacobs because Golovkin won’t back off of his demand of a 50-50 purse split with Alvarez.
“He’s stubborn and wanting 50-50, and it’s not going to happen,” De La Hoya told ESPN.com regarding Golovkin. “The Canelo train has left the station.”
Jacobs (34-2, 29 KOs) lost a close unanimous decision to Golovkin in March 2017 at Madison Square Garden. The Brooklyn native and cancer survivor wants another shot at Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs), but he has said he would welcome what would be a lucrative fight against Alvarez as well.
“So there’s a deal on the table for Daniel Jacobs to fight September 15 against Canelo,” De La Hoya said. “Eddie loves the idea. He loves the fight. Daniel Jacobs loves the fight and we love the fight as well. So we’re just moving forward and making sure that Canelo has the toughest dance partner possible for September 15.”
If he doesn’t fight Golovkin again September 15, Alvarez needs to face another top middleweight because his recent PED ordeal damaged his reputation, particularly among boxing fans that purchase pay-per-view events.
Wrapping up negotiations for an Alvarez-Golovkin rematch appeared to be a formality just two weeks ago. Once Golovkin demanded more money, however, De La Hoya threatened to head in a different direction for Alvarez’s return from a six-month suspension issued by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The initial deal for their rematch was constructed for a 65-35 split in Alvarez’s favor. Golovkin believes he deserves more money because Alvarez’s two failed PED tests in February ruined their rematch, originally scheduled for May 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and cost him millions last month.
The Kazakh knockout artist settled for a reported $1.2 million purse to fight Vanes Martirosyan. Golovkin knocked out Martirosyan (36-4-1, 21 KOs), a junior middleweight contender from Glendale, California, in the second round May 5 at StubHub Center in Carson, California.
De La Hoya told ESPN.com that he was willing to give Golovkin a 60-40 split, but not 50-50.
“What people are not understanding is I am not going to come off my demands for the rematch,” De La Hoya said. “The fact that GGG is stubborn on a 50-50 split and it’s ludicrous. It’s never going to happen. He wants 50-50 and it’s never going to happen. We had already come to terms and they had the contracts a long time, several weeks, and now he wants 50-50?”
Golovkin accepted a 70-30 split for their first fight, a controversial 12-round draw September 16 at T-Mobile Arena.
“We were willing to budge, but now I’m fed up with this and I’ve decided to move on,” De La Hoya said. “So we’re talking to Eddie Hearn about Jacobs. Let’s make the best deal possible. The deal is on the table for Daniel Jacobs and hopefully we can get it signed sooner than later, so we can start promoting the fight.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.