Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez, who guides Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, has lost his patience and he's not willing to waste any further time when it comes to the negotiations for a rematch with IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
Gomez told ESPN that Golovkin now has a firm deadline 12 PM PST 3 PM EST on Wednesday to accept a monetary split of 57.5-42.5 - or else Golden Boy would move forward with finalizing a deal to face Daniel Jacobs on September 15th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“This is final,” Gomez said. “We’ve been through everything. We’ve been through the hoops, the monkey bars, the slides. No more playing games. He has until noon (PT) to accept or walk away. If he walks away, good luck to him.”
The two boxers fought last September to a controversial twelve round split draw, also at T-Mobile.
They were set to collide in a rematch on May 5th, but the contest fell out after Canelo tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol.
Canelo was suspended for a six month period by the Nevada State Athletic Commission - but he'll be cleared to fight by August 17th, and plans to fight on September 15th against Golovkin or Jacobs.
When they made a deal for the May date, the terms were 65-35 in favor of Canelo.
But when the contest fell apart, Golovkin demanded an even split of 50-50 - which caused the negotiations to fall apart.
Eventually, Golovkin backed away from the 50-50 demand and countered back with a split of 55-45 in Canelo's favor.
Now the ball is in Golovkin's court. The rematch is the biggest fight for both boxers, but Canelo will likely make $20-30 million against an alternative opponent like Jacobs - while Golovkin's options would become pretty thin in terms of securing someone who can bring an eight figure payday.
2023-10-21 06:05:05
