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What happened: Canelo tested positive for P.E.Ds leading him to eventually pull out of the fight with Gennady Golovkin with roughly a month to go. There is a possibility that the NSAC might suspend him.
Fallout: There is a possibility that the NSAC might suspend Canelo for at least 6 months backdated to the date of the positive test. Which means he’ll probably be available to fight GGG in September assuming he stops eating Mexican meat. Meanwhile Golovkin is left searching for a dance partner.
What happens on May 5th? Triple G is trying to get a fight scheduled for that night. Most likely it will be at the Stubhub Center.
Who is the likely opponent? Vanes Martirosyan
Is he any good? He's not bad. But he's been horribly inactive and usually loses when he fights the better opponents in his division. Oh and he fights at a lower weight class. All in all, he's a very disappointing choice.
Why fight him? It comes down to money. HBO is only putting up 1 million dollars for the fight. With the vast majority of the purse going to GGG there really isn't enough money for a top tier opponent. Vanes is probably the best guy willing to take the fight on short notice and for relative chump change as a payday. His career has stagnated and a good showing will give his career a boost even if he loses.
Why not go for a PPV so you can afford a better opponent? The only other fighters in the middleweight division to fight on PPV besides Canelo and GGG are David Lemieux and Daniel Jacobs? Both were only on PPV because they were fighting GGG and neither fight drew well. As talented as Sergey Derevyanchenko is he is nowhere near as well known as Lemieux or Jacobs were when they fought GGG. A short notice PPV fight against an unknown opponent would have bombed. Another disappointing PPV performance would leave him in a poor negotiating position for a rematch with Canelo.
Why not push the fight until June so a better opponent can be secured with more HBO money and more time to promote the fight? Firstly, GGG has already been more inactive of late than he likes to be. Pushing the date of the fight risks no fight happening at all until the September rematch with Canelo. That's not good for a 36 year old GGG. Even if a fight is secured for an unknown date in June it leaves less time for the 36 year old GGG to physically recover and properly prepare for a mid-September fight with Canelo. Also, training for a professional fight is designed to get a fighter into prime fighting condition for the day of the fight. Adjusting training to account for a new date a month later might hinder Golovkin's performance later on. After all, at 36 years of age he's no spring chicken.
There has to be a better option than Vanes Martirosyan? There are multiple options that are infinitely better than Vanes Martirosyan. But as I said it comes down to how much money people are willing to accept for a short notice fight with GGG.
For example, Sergey Derevyanchenko already turned down 250k to fight Demetrious Andrade. He had previously accepted 400k to fight Andrade but did not want to fight him for less. Considering the purse HBO is offering for the May 5th fight is only $1 million dollars total it is unlikely that Sergey Derevyanchenko would have been willing to even accept 400k to fight GGG on short notice.
https://www.boxingscene.com/promoter...ant-it--126698
At the same time why would Sergey Derevyanchenko take chump change for a short notice fight against the best opponent of his career. He's in a position where he is the mandatory contender for one of GGG's belts. He is going to get to fight for the belt eventually whether its against GGG or the next available top ranked fighter in the IBF rankings (assuming GGG is stripped). There is no need for him to accept such a small paycheck for a short notice fight when he has a guaranteed shot.
What is the IBF going to do? No one knows for sure. Sergey Derevyanchenko and his promoter are pushing them to force GGG to defend his belt. Personally, I don't see it happening. While GGG has not fought his IBF mandatory in 2 years he's been defending his belts regularly even in cases where the opposing fighter doesn't pay a particular sanctioning body their fees (Canelo with the WBC and Jacobs with the IBF I believe). Golovkin has been good to their wallets. They are going to give him as much time as he wants.
To sum this up: Canelo and Golden Boy ****ed up. GGG is making the best out of a bad situation but that is leading us to a meaningless fight against undeserving opposition in the name of staying sharp for an eventual September rematch with Canelo.
Fallout: There is a possibility that the NSAC might suspend Canelo for at least 6 months backdated to the date of the positive test. Which means he’ll probably be available to fight GGG in September assuming he stops eating Mexican meat. Meanwhile Golovkin is left searching for a dance partner.
What happens on May 5th? Triple G is trying to get a fight scheduled for that night. Most likely it will be at the Stubhub Center.
Who is the likely opponent? Vanes Martirosyan
Is he any good? He's not bad. But he's been horribly inactive and usually loses when he fights the better opponents in his division. Oh and he fights at a lower weight class. All in all, he's a very disappointing choice.
Why fight him? It comes down to money. HBO is only putting up 1 million dollars for the fight. With the vast majority of the purse going to GGG there really isn't enough money for a top tier opponent. Vanes is probably the best guy willing to take the fight on short notice and for relative chump change as a payday. His career has stagnated and a good showing will give his career a boost even if he loses.
Why not go for a PPV so you can afford a better opponent? The only other fighters in the middleweight division to fight on PPV besides Canelo and GGG are David Lemieux and Daniel Jacobs? Both were only on PPV because they were fighting GGG and neither fight drew well. As talented as Sergey Derevyanchenko is he is nowhere near as well known as Lemieux or Jacobs were when they fought GGG. A short notice PPV fight against an unknown opponent would have bombed. Another disappointing PPV performance would leave him in a poor negotiating position for a rematch with Canelo.
Why not push the fight until June so a better opponent can be secured with more HBO money and more time to promote the fight? Firstly, GGG has already been more inactive of late than he likes to be. Pushing the date of the fight risks no fight happening at all until the September rematch with Canelo. That's not good for a 36 year old GGG. Even if a fight is secured for an unknown date in June it leaves less time for the 36 year old GGG to physically recover and properly prepare for a mid-September fight with Canelo. Also, training for a professional fight is designed to get a fighter into prime fighting condition for the day of the fight. Adjusting training to account for a new date a month later might hinder Golovkin's performance later on. After all, at 36 years of age he's no spring chicken.
There has to be a better option than Vanes Martirosyan? There are multiple options that are infinitely better than Vanes Martirosyan. But as I said it comes down to how much money people are willing to accept for a short notice fight with GGG.
For example, Sergey Derevyanchenko already turned down 250k to fight Demetrious Andrade. He had previously accepted 400k to fight Andrade but did not want to fight him for less. Considering the purse HBO is offering for the May 5th fight is only $1 million dollars total it is unlikely that Sergey Derevyanchenko would have been willing to even accept 400k to fight GGG on short notice.
https://www.boxingscene.com/promoter...ant-it--126698
At the same time why would Sergey Derevyanchenko take chump change for a short notice fight against the best opponent of his career. He's in a position where he is the mandatory contender for one of GGG's belts. He is going to get to fight for the belt eventually whether its against GGG or the next available top ranked fighter in the IBF rankings (assuming GGG is stripped). There is no need for him to accept such a small paycheck for a short notice fight when he has a guaranteed shot.
What is the IBF going to do? No one knows for sure. Sergey Derevyanchenko and his promoter are pushing them to force GGG to defend his belt. Personally, I don't see it happening. While GGG has not fought his IBF mandatory in 2 years he's been defending his belts regularly even in cases where the opposing fighter doesn't pay a particular sanctioning body their fees (Canelo with the WBC and Jacobs with the IBF I believe). Golovkin has been good to their wallets. They are going to give him as much time as he wants.
To sum this up: Canelo and Golden Boy ****ed up. GGG is making the best out of a bad situation but that is leading us to a meaningless fight against undeserving opposition in the name of staying sharp for an eventual September rematch with Canelo.
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