Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, set to fight Willie Monroe Jr. on May 16, is the most feared middleweight in the world. He has knocked out 19 consecutive opponents, owns the WBA and IBO titles, and is one of the fastest-rising fighters in boxing. Yet, he can't find any big name opponents to grow his brand.
Golovkin is the mandatory challenger for Miguel Cotto's WBC middleweight belt, but when Cotto fights on June 6 he'll be facing Daniel Geale, a man Golovkin knocked out in less than four rounds, instead.
Rumor has it that Cotto was working on a second fight in the fall vs. Canelo Alvarez that would happen if Cotto and Alvarez win their upcoming bouts.
With Golovkin as the mandatory though, Cotto would have to be stripped of his title to pursue Alvarez. Unless, of course, Golovkin steps aside.
Loeffler discussed the WBC's position on Cotto-Alvarez. "The WBC won't sanction the fight against Canelo unless they have our approval because it's clear that Gennady is the next mandatory challenger after he makes one voluntary defense," Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler said.
"We've been approached by Roc Nation already to work something out with Cotto. So it just depends on if there's something acceptable to work out," Loeffler continued.
"The first thing would have to be that whoever wins the fight would have to guarantee to fight him [Golovkin], which so far they haven't. The second thing, there would have to be significant financial compensation to Gennady, because he put himself in the position to fight [Marco Antonio] Rubio and without that it wouldn't make any sense."
Golovkin has struggled to get major opponents into big fights. Cotto makes sense, but hasn't shown interest. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. talks fell through last year and in the early part of this year, and coming off a knockout loss vs. Andrzej Fonfara, Chavez Jr. has lost his luster. A fight vs. super middleweight star Andre Ward gets fans excited, but Golovkin would have to move up eight pounds to fight the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
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