A few days ago, it was revealed that middleweight contender Gary "Spike" O'Sullivan had rejected an offer to face IBF, IBO, WBC, WBA world champion Gennady Golovkin on May 5th at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Instead, Spike will return one day earlier, on May 4th, as part of an ESPN card being staged by Golden Boy Promotions at the same Carson venue.
Golovkin was originally scheduled to fight Canelo Alvarez in a rematch, but the Mexican superstar withdrew from the fight not long after being placed under a temporary suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission - because he tested positive for banned substance clenbuterol back in February.
According to O'Sullivan, the money for fighting Golovkin kept declining as the negotiations continued.
He claims to have agreed to the initial money - and then the offer was halved.
“Money-wise it’s not on PPV and the fight’s not worth the money that it should be. They dragged it out for over a week and we got nothing official. And the money kept on diminishing as well. They made an initial offer I agreed to then they came back with half of that," O'Sullivan told SiriusXM Boxing Radio.
The declining money may be due in part to HBO's decision to remove the contest from their pay-per-view outlet and instead feature it on their network.
O'Sullivan is more than happy to fight Golovkin in the future - with more notice and more money involved.
“It’s better to stick to the plans we have now. I’d love to fight [Golovkin] down the road with a bit more notice and more money,” O'Sullivan said.
“I was very excited [when first asked about the fight]… Ken [Casey] called me and asked me would I take the fight and I said absolutely, but I think they were looking to get a junior middleweight instead of me looking toward a more safer option.