Gennady Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler is negotiating a deal for him to sign with DAZN, according to RingTV. Loeffler says Golovkin could be back in the ring in March or April, but it won’t be against Saul Canelo Alvarez. Loeffler wants to set-up a trilogy fight for Golovkin with the Mexican star, but he doubts that’ll happen next May. If Golovkin signs with DAZN, then his next bout will be on the streaming network.
It’s not surprising that GGG (38-1-1, 34 KOs) is about to sign with DAZN, since that’s his best chance of getting the trilogy fight that he so badly wants against Canelo. While it would still be theoretically possible for Golovkin to land a third fight with Canelo if he signed with ESPN or Premier Boxing Champions, it might delay the fight from happening.
Golovkin, 36, can’t afford to wait 6 years for the different networks to come to an agreement about letting the Canelo-GGG 3 fight take place in a cross platform deal. Besides that, DAZN has deep pockets, as we just saw with the huge $365 million deal that Canelo just signed with them. If they’ve got that kind of money to give to Canelo, who fans felt lost his last two fights against Golovkin, then there should be a lot of money available for GGG to make.
“Sources: DAZN has aggressively pursued Gennady Golovkin, and the sides are in advanced talks,” said Mike Coppinger on his Twitter. “GGG promoter Tom Loeffler hoping to wrap a deal up soon ahead of a spring return for the former middleweight champ #boxing.”
Golovkin signing with DAZN would open up opportuntieis for him to fight these guys potentially:
1. Saul Canelo Alvarez
2. Callum Smith
3. Demetrius Andrade
4. Daniel Jacobs
5. Rocky Fielding
It would be good if a young lion like Jermall Charlo was to sign with DAZN as well, because if Canelo’s career heads south once in the near future, it would be nice to have someone else signed with DAZN. Right now, it’s just Canelo and Demetrius Andrade with DAZN. Daniel Jacobs mign sign with them, but he’s not a great fighter, as we saw in his last two fights against Sergey Derevyanchenko and Maciej Sulecki. Jacobs almost lost those two fights, and he didn’t look like a talented guy that will have any longevity.
Speaking of Daniel Jacobs, he’s expected to face Canelo next May if he signs with DAZN. That’s a fight that promoter Eddie Hearn wants, and he tends to get what he wants much of the time when it comes to match-making.
Canelo ultimately calls the shots when it comes to his match-making. It might not matter if Golovkin does sign with DAZN. If Canelo doesn’t want a third fight with him, then it won’t happen. Golovkin punished Canelo with heavy shots more in their rematch than he did in their first fight. A lot was made out of the fact that Golovkin backed up at times against Canelo in their fight last September.
You can believe that if there’s a third fight, GGG will be attacking Canelo relentlessly and will not back up and inch. Canelo might take a beating and lose, which is why a third fight might not be something that the Golden Boy star wants. We have to take a wait and see approach with the trilogy fight between Canelo and Golovkin. We know that GGG wants it, but it’s hard to know whether Golden Boy Promotions and Canelo wants it. They got what they were after in winning a decision over Golovkin last September, and they might not want to take a chance in facing a third time. Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler sounds like he’s not excited about the third Canelo-GGG fight taking place in Las Vegas. If Canelo can’t fight Golovkin in Las Vegas, he might lose with different judging from another state. A lot of boxing fans already believe that the only reason Canelo didn’t lose his two fights with Golovkin and his fight against Erislandy Lara is because the fights took place in Nevada. A third fight between Canelo and GGG will likely need to take place in New York or California for them to have a chance of getting made. I don’t think Golovkin will agree to go back to Nevada for a third fight even if it means more money for him.