By Andreas Hale
There’s no need to waste any time.
A rematch between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin needs to be solidified for Cinco De Mayo weekend in Las Vegas. Aside from agreeing on the money split and the other financial nuances, it shouldn’t take much to get a rematch of their hotly contested split draw signed, sealed and delivered.
But what if the two sides are unable to come to terms on an immediate rematch? If we’re honest with ourselves, we know that no matter what Canelo says, Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions will have the final say. Canelo said that a fight with GGG was the only fight he wanted to kick off But Canelo has never shied away from a challenge and would have fought Golovkin two years ago if it were left up to him. However, De La Hoya has to protect his investment and could decide to make fans wait until next September for another meeting between the two best middleweights in the world. Not to mention that waiting until September would benefit Canelo considering that Golovkin would only be getting older and a 36-year-old GGG is slightly less dangerous than the one Canelo fought last month.
So what other routes could GGG and Canelo take before the rematch happens?
One route would be for either Canelo or GGG to collect the WBO middleweight title that is currently held by Billy Joe Saunders. It’s the missing piece in a rematch that would be for all the marbles. Saunders recently beat Willie Monroe Jr. to retain the title the same night that Canelo-GGG took place in a fight that wasn’t necessarily entertaining for anybody who watched. Nevertheless, Saunders could face either fighter and wouldn’t be too much of a threat to derail the rematch plans.
Ideally, Canelo would be the one to challenge Saunders as the Brit is seeking a big payday for either fighter and Canelo certainly has the bigger financial upside. Saunders made his quest for financial security obvious when he called out Amir Khan after defeating Monroe. That would clearly be the path with the least resistance but a fight with Alvarez could be of interest to Saunders and De La Hoya could make it worth his while.
As for Golovkin, if he is unable to secure a fight with Canelo, the only sensible route (if not Saunders) would be to face Miguel Cotto. Cotto stated that he wanted to face the winner of Canelo-GGG and considering that he’s already lost to Canelo, a fight with Golovkin makes the most sense and would earn him the most money in what would appear to be his final fight. It would make zero sense for GGG to fight another middleweight that wouldn’t enhance his profile and earn him a big payday while waiting for Canelo. Cotto is the perfect name to place on his resume.
Assuming that these fights were to take place, they could actually assist in building the hype for the rematch. Obviously, fight fans would be unhappy to find out that there wouldn’t be an immediate rematch, but we’ve become used to the torment of waiting for the big fight. We’ll get over it. And you could do a lot worse than Canelo-Saunders and GGG-Cotto to set up the rematch, right?
Well, let’s go ahead and blow that up.
For starters, Cotto would be out of his mind to face Golovkin in his final fight. Unless he has good reason to not be conscious after 12 rounds, or take a serious beating, Cotto should stay far, far away from Golovkin. Not to mention that Cotto has said numerous times that he’s not a real middleweight. He was overmatched against Canelo and the same would likely happen against Golovkin. Granted, Freddie Roach just might have seen something in the Canelo fight that could help him train Cotto to be competitive. But Roach will likely decline that as a final fight for the prideful Puerto Rican.
As for Saunders, while it makes a world of sense for him to face Canelo, he’d be better suited to wait until after Canelo and GGG settle their differences. It’s a very difficult challenge for Saunders to face either fighter and risk the clout he has with the WBO world title. A fight with Khan would earn him at least another payday while adding a quality name (who would be competing out of his weight class) to his resume. If he were to beat Khan, a fight with either Canelo or GGG would carry a little more weight.
Let’s be honest, there’s nowhere for Canelo and GGG to turn but to each other. Anything else would be uncivilized. And outside of a one-sided rematch, this rivalry is built for a trilogy and Golden Boy Promotions has to be salivating at the possibility of squeezing three fights out of this. Waiting could put a trilogy fight at risk considering that it is unlikely that Golovkin has many years left to go in his career.
Their best bet is to get the rematch confirmed for Cinco De Mayo in Las Vegas and let the hype machine begin to churn toward what will easily be the most anticipated fight of 2018.
2023-10-19 16:33:20
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