Gennady Golovkin (36-1-1, 34 KOs) lost for the first time in his career last month by a controversial 12 round majority decision to Saul Canelo Alvarez, and now he’s finding himself in demand by different platforms.
Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler says that there’s a great deal of interest from different platforms. He’s not naming which networks or streaming companies that are interested in Golovkin. Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in signing GGG for his DAZN service. ESPN, Showtime and Fox are also potential options for the 36-year-old GGG.
Although Golovkin lost to Canelo, he’s seen as the winner again by the boxing fans, who feel that it’s just another case of the Nevada judging having degraded the sport once again.
”We have many offers. There is a lot of interest for GGG to fight on different platforms,” Loeffler said to ESPN Deportes. ”Eddie Hearn approached (for DAZN), Al Haymon (for Showtime). Those are the three possibilities,”
HBO has decided to stop broadcasting boxing after this year, and that leaves Golovkin needing another platform to have his fights televised or streamed to the U.S consumers. Canelo is in the same boat.
Golovkin needs a platform where he has the best chance of reaching his fans. His options are as follows:
– DAZN: This is a platform that is just starting out that costs U.S boxing fans $10 per month to subscribe to. If Golovkin signs on with British promoter Eddie Hearn of his Matchroom Boxing USA, he could find himself being seen by few fans due it being a new streaming platform and it’s a costly one at that compared to ESPN and Fox. Showtime goes for around the same price as DAZN, but you get a lot of movies that you can see in addition to boxing content.
– ESPN: There’s a potential for GGG to be seen by a lot of boxing fans if he signs with ESPN.
– Showtime
– Fox: Having Golovkin’s fights shown on Fox would mean huge ratings.
Loeffler and Golovkin needs to make the right decision about signing with the right platform that will ensure that he’s able to reach the most amount of boxing fans. If GGG isn’t going to be fighting on pay-per-view in his next fight or two, then he’ll be better off being seen by as many fans as possible to expand his base. That way when Golovkin does eventually fight on PPV against someone like Canelo Alvarez, the fight will have a better chance of making huge money for him. Fighting Canelo on a network or platform that has few subscribers wouldn’t be good for him right now.
“Bob Arum approached us already. We have always had a great relationship with Bob Arum, ESPN is a great platform,”Loeffler said.