By Rick Reeno
Las Vegas - IBO, WBC, WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will be the first to admit that it wasn't easy to reach an agreement for his scheduled rematch with Canelo Alvarez.
The two rivals will meet on September 15th, in the main event of an HBO Pay-Per-View card from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
They fought to a controversial twelve round split draw, at the very same venue, in September of 2017.
When the negotiations first began, Canelo offered up a 65-35 monetary split in his favor.
Golovkin rejected those numbers - and stayed firm on a 50-50 split.
Even after Canelo offered a 57.5-42.5 split - Golovkin still remained firm on 50-50.
Eventually, as they were approaching the deadline of their discussions, Golovkin accepted a split of 55-45.
There were several moments in their negotiations, where Golden Boy Promotions - who handle Canelo - were threatening to walk away from the fight.
There were claims that Canelo would move forward with a September fight with Daniel Jacobs.
According to Golovkin, he paid very little attention to any of the deadlines or threats that were made.
"I wasn't even thinking about that stuff, because we did make a lot of concessions. They knew what our position was. They were playing poker with the people and the reporters. I wasn't even thinking about whether it would happen or it wouldn't happen. If they didn't take our terms, it would have really been some bad publicity for them - but I myself did not really think about that," Golovkin said.
Canelo was also angered with the negotiations, because he claimed Golovkin was trying to shake him down more money when he initially agreed to a 65-35 - for their original rematch date of May 5.
"That's what their side is saying. They are playing their own poker game. They tried to play some cards that are not always true. Believe me, this deal that we made is very profitable not only for us but also for them. Any deal they sign, they are always thinking about themselves, so this one is also good for them as well," Golovkin said.
2023-10-21 09:51:29
