Is Golovkin/Canelo 2 just a charade?
Is Golden Boy Promotions gonna try to pull a fast one on the fans? There’s much speculation after Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s failed drug test on whether or not he will face Gennady Golovkin in September.
Golovkin was very vocal about Alvarez failing his drug test, as he should of been. Alvarez tested positive for Clenbuterol on two separate occasions, he of course blamed the positive results on contaminated meat, an excuse Golovkin believes not to be true.
You have to wonder could Golovkin had rubbed Alvarez and his team the wrong way? Could their be repercussions behind the comments that were made? Golden Boy obviously knows Alvarez offers Golovkin the best payday out of any opponent available. So, can you see Golden Boy and his team passing up on Golovkin? By the time the fight would take place Alvarez would be a year remove from the last time he stepped into the ring.
There’s also something that’s been on my mind for sometime, now, this is strictly speculation on my part. When Alvarez withdrew from his bout with Golovkin and eventually ended up getting a six months suspension one opponent that was immediately mentioned to replace him was Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan, another fighter represented by Golden Boy Promotions. O’Sullivan was originally offer $400,000 for the fight, as at first the plan was to still keep the fight on PPV.
However, HBO decided to air the bout on their network instead, which changed the offer made to O’Sullivan to $250,000. O’Sullivan would eventually turn the fight down, and wound up signing to take on Berlin Abreu on May 4th for a whopping $20,000. It’s a move that left me puzzled, I began to wonder what would make a fighter leave $230,000 on the table?
As I watched O’Sullivan dismantled Abreu it dawned on me, could Alvarez comeback and face O’Sullivan in September? It’s really not that hard to leave money on the table if you know you have a bigger payday on the horizon. It wouldn’t shock me at all, which is why I made the point that Alvarez would be a year removed from the ring and some ring rust may develop.
Will Golden Boy risk their cash cow facing a tough opponent like Golovkin after so much time off? After all the statements Golovkin made? It’s really something to think about, as we can only wait to see what exactly will happen.
If I were Golovkin I don’t think I would wait on uncertainty anymore. There’s fights out there for him such as Billy Joe Saunders in the UK, a move that would allow him to keep his IBF title for the time being. Then face his mandatory. A fight against Ryota Murata in the Tokyo Dome would be huge in Japan. Are any of these equal to a payday against Canelo? No not by themselves but together they would easily generate close to $15-$20 million dollars. Why wait on uncertainty when you can control your own path?
By: Wilson Urena
