Canelo Alvarez tossed a curveball into the negotiations to fight Gennady Golovkin on Wednesday, electing to give up his WBC middleweight title rather than hammer out a deal under the WBC’s guidelines. The move could slow talks between the two camps without the WBC’s parameters pressuring the sides to meet.
But Alvarez, who seemed ready to face Golovkin after he blasted Amir Khan, said he still planned to fight the Kazakhstan knockout artist – just not under the WBC’s guidelines. The two camps had until next Tuesday to negotiate a deal.
“For the entirety of my career, I have taken the fights that no one wanted because I fear no man,” Alvarez said in a statement. “Never has that been more true than today. I will fight ‘GGG,’ and I will beat ‘GGG,’ but I will not be forced into the ring by artificial deadlines. I am hopeful that by putting aside this ticking clock, the two teams can now negotiate this fight, and ‘GGG’ and I can get in the ring as soon as possible and give the fans the fight they want to see.”
Now that Alvarez, who is still THE RING’s middleweight champion, has vacated the title, Golovkin becomes the full WBC middleweight champion to add to his WBA/IBF collection. Alvarez would have been stripped of the WBC title if he had not faced his mandatory Golovkin next.
Tom Loeffler, who promotes Golovkin, was surprisingly cool over the latest development. Loeffler has done a remarkable job of turning Golovkin into a ticket seller. However, Loeffler needs a date with a superstar to make Golovkin a crossover draw. Beating Alvarez would have done just that. With Alvarez’s intentions somewhat unclear, Loeffler remained hopeful the fight will happen. For now, he’s happy to add the WBC belt to Golovkin’s family of titles.
“I don’t think it’s a stalling tactic,” Loeffler told RingTV.com. “I think the fight will happen when it’s ready to happen. Moving forward, that was (Golovkin’s) goal, to get the WBC title. It didn’t matter if Sergio Martinez was still the champion or Miguel Cotto or Canelo. He wanted the title. He would have preferred to have all three of them in the ring, but if he can’t force the fight then you may as well get the title.”
Loeffler said he planned to continue negotiating with Golden Boy. But he also acknowledged for the first time in recent days that he would go in a different direction if it’s clear Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 knockouts) doesn’t want to face Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) next. “They felt like it was too short a time pressure to make the fight,” Loeffler said. “We’ll try to make the Canelo fight or the next fight for (Golovkin) that’s the next best fight for him.”
The middleweight division is top-heavy with blue chippers, and it will be interesting to see if Loeffler can somehow lure the likes of Danny Jacobs, who is Alvarez’s WBA mandatory, into the ring if Alvarez elects to wait until next year. WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr. recently said the WBA won’t interfere in the WBC’s negotiations to make Canelo-GGG. Now that Alvarez has vacated the belt, the WBA could order that Golovkin face Jacobs next.
But Mendoza said in an email to RingTV.com on Wednesday the WBA will hold off for the moment until Alvarez’s intentions become clear. “We would like to wait before making an official statement on the matter,” he wrote. “We would like to act appropriately in order to take the best decision for boxing and all its stockholders.”
Loeffler described the negotiations with Golden Boy prior to Wednesday as “okay” and “cordial,” adding, “There was no major milestones but it was okay. They certainly didn’t say they don’t want the fight. They always said they want the fight, so I have to take them at their word.”
Golden Boy Chairman Oscar De La Hoya suggested that someone of Alvarez’s stature shouldn’t be confined to a deadline when it comes to making a deal with another fighter.
“There is no denying that Canelo is the biggest star in the sport of boxing,” De La Hoya said. “He is eager to get in the ring with ‘GGG’ to show the world that he is also the best pound for pound fighter in the sport, but we won’t negotiate under a forced deadline. Now that the WBC title is off the table, I am hopeful that ‘GGG’ and his promoter K2 Promotions will come to the table in good faith and get this deal done.”
Throughout these talks with Golden Boy, Loeffler has remained optimistic. He stayed calm after Golden Boy requested that both fighters be allowed an interim fight after Alvarez beat Miguel Cotto last November for the WBC title even though Golovkin was his mandatory.
And Loeffler kept up the positive surface on Wednesday. “I think the fight will definitely happen — it’s just a question of when,” Loeffler said. “So we’re going to work toward that. Again, I don’t think (vacating the title) diminishes the value of the fight at all. If we can make the fight now, we’ll do it. If we can’t, then we’ll make it as soon as possible.”
The WBC released a statement on Wednesday that seemed to sum up the public’s forward-thinking, anticipative view of the fight. “The WBC wishes “Canelo” Alvarez great success in his career,” the WBC said, “and will certainly look forward to see Golovkin vs Alvarez materialize in the future.” In a follow-up email to RingTV.com, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman struck a more confident tone: “I’m sure the fight will happen eventually,” he wrote. “It is the most important fight for boxing today.”
Article courtesy of Ring Magazine
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