NEW YORK – Gennadiy Golovkin gave a blunt answer Wednesday when he was asked why he thinks Canelo Alvarez agreed to move up two weight classes to challenge Sergey Kovalev.
“I think that was his only option,” Golovkin told a group of reporters prior to a press conference at Madison Square Garden. “All the offers that he had, the only option for him was to take the fight with Kovalev.”
Golovkin clarified that he meant Kovalev was the only option for Alvarez that DAZN would’ve accepted after Alvarez refused to fight Golovkin a third time September 14. Alvarez-Golovkin III was the fight DAZN executive chairman John Skipper and Golovkin wanted.
Skipper signed Alvarez and later Golovkin to contracts worth nine figures apiece after Alvarez edged Golovkin by majority decision in their 12-round middleweight championship rematch in September 2018. Skipper was willing to accept an Alvarez-Kovalev bout because the Mexican icon will move up from 160 pounds to 175 to face the hard-hitting Russian champion.
Alvarez is listed as approximately a 4-1 favorite, even though he is the smaller man. Golovkin declined to pick a winner Wednesday.
“I don’t know who’s going to win,” Golovkin said, “but I know that Kovalev is gaining more from that fight than Canelo.”
While Alvarez technically will have an opportunity to become a champion in a fourth weight class, the compensation package for Kovalev’s side reportedly is worth $12 million, by far the highest of the WBO light heavyweight champion’s career.
Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) reiterated recently that he sees no need to fight Golovkin again, even though the outcomes of each of their two fights caused great debate. If Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) defeats Ukraine’s Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden and Alvarez overcomes Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs), their third fight will be brought up again by Skipper and unfulfilled fans who want a more definitive conclusion to their rivalry.
Golovkin still doesn’t understand why reporters keep asking him about Alvarez.
“I’m not tired,” Golovkin said of answering questions about Alvarez. “But it’s interesting for me to observe you, asking those questions on and on and on again. We have a lot of different things to talk about. We have a lot of interesting subjects, topics, and you asking about Canelo tells something about you as journalists. Explore better options. Ask more interesting questions. I think it’s your problem, not mine.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.