Alvarez vs O’Sullivan and Golovkin vs Derevyanchenko look more likely than a rematch for sure
It was on! Cinco De Mayo, we were gonna get a clearer picture in the Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin dual. We had the controversial draw from last year but now surely somebody would step up in the rematch. Well then it wasn’t on anymore…
By now those that are even less than casual fans are familiar with the drug Clenbuterol. There’s no question that Alvarez is responsible for the rematch not taking place on May 5th. It doesn’t matter if he was “doping” or not. At the very least he was guilty of violating the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s guidelines of zero tolerance. Mistake or not it happened and well there was no fight.
Now the two sides went back to the negotiating table and of course fans of both fighter’s are going back and forth on social media. “Golovkin should take the deal he already had” or “Canelo is crazy! Golovkin has all the belts!”
The thing is that neither is really right in my opinion on the current stance. Golovkin promoter, Tom Loeffler told 3KingsBoxing.com recently;
“Gennady made a lot of concessions for the first fight as well as the rematch. He feels after everything from the May 5th ordeal that he deserves a more equitable share.”
I tend to agree with team Golovkin but how much more equitable is the question. Earlier this morning Golovkin confirmed the recent reports of him wanting a 50/50 split and that in my opinion is too much more equitable.
I understand it wasn’t his fault the rematch got cancelled and yes he does have all the belts, but Alvarez is still unquestionably the “A-side” here.
Now, the other side. Team Alvarez, which includes Golden Boy Promotions, is on record stating that it will be the same deal as before or no fight. Oscar De La Hoya took to social media saying Golovkin was scared to fight and they were “moving on”. Really just posturing at that point although now I believe any chance of us seeing this rematch in September is pretty close to dead.
Is the same deal fair? Of course not. Why? Simple, the fact that the rematch has already been cancelled once means Golovkin has lost money to no fault of his own. “Well he can still get that money in September.” Yeah he can but he should’ve got it in May and there’s really no guarantee of this fight doing better or worse now after the fiasco surrounding the cancellation. I’ve heard a pretty even split of fans go both ways on the issue.
So what happens next? If I was Golovkin I would move forward with trying to secure a unification bout with Billy Joe Saunders or take care of my mandatory obligations. If they insist on trying to secure this rematch however I don’t think coming with 50/50 is the proper way to do so. Somewhere between 40-45% would be a good settling point.
As for Alvarez and his team? I don’t believe they’re looking at much other than possibly a fight with Golden Boy in-house fighter, Gary O’Sullivan. They’ve mentioned other names but again I believe that was posturing as well. If they’re still interested in the rematch then coming up above the sub 40% offer is what it’ll take.
The reality is that a fight between Alvarez and Golovkin is the biggest fight for either guy and that’s not even debatable. Right now however, other options must be considered. Alvarez will survive and make pretty good money against a handful of guys. Golovkin has a few options as well with the unification against Saunders or a potential fight in Japan against Ryota Murata.
If the rematch has any chance it’ll have to be announced fairly soon according to both sides so let’s see what the next couple of weeks brings.
By: Chris Henderson
