New Year’s Resolution: Gennadiy Golovkin Edition
By Eddie Sanchez
Closing out 2020, The Bad Promoter will publish a few New Year’s Resolutions for some of our most prominent combat sports friends. The second in this series is Gennadiy Golovkin.
What a week for boxing! Today is the day Canelo Alvarez returns to face Callum Smith. Prior to this however, DAZN televised Gennadiy Golovkin versus Kamil Szeremeta. The broadcast was filled with rhetoric surrounding Gennadiy Golovkin’s herculean physique and how he is offering reminders to the GGG of old.
In some ways, he truly did show the GGG of old. His opponent was outmatched from the jump and as you revisit GGG’s early-resume, this is a common theme. Slight shade and all, this was not his fault. Although he was given much grief at the time, his resume was not as bad as some would have you think.
He was arguably the most avoided fighter in his prime. No one wanted to face him when he was at the peak of his powers besides fringe contenders looking to build a name for themselves, or brave undersized men.
That is until Canelo Alvarez fought him twice. It is those two fights that drives DAZN’s promotion of GGG during their partnership. For over two years DAZN has tried to book a trilogy between the rivals and it was clear last night that this dream is still heavy on their minds. It is no coincidence that Canelo Alvarez returns tonight, one day after GGG’s fight.
GGG has three fights left on his contract, and for his New Year’s Resolution, The Bad Promoter would like to see him move up in weight and take a legitimate challenge as he represents himself as a possible Canelo Alvarez opponent.
For those of you who read the first installment in this series, The Bad Promoter’s resolution for Canelo Alvarez is to reach undisputed status in the 168 pound division. This would require him to beat Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant.
As we all know, New Year’s Resolutions are mostly highly encouraged suggestions and not something regarding the letter of the law. Canelo can ultimately reach undisputed status, but also scratch that final itch that is left from GGG.
Back to Golovkin though, the challenge I would like to see him take next is John Ryder. While all of the talk regarding the scheduling of GGG’s bout surrounded the alignment with Canelo Alvarez’s schedule, John Ryder also aligns perfectly as a future opponent. Ryder took on Mike Guy on Golovkin’s undercard and he would make a fine opponent for GGG’s introduction to the Super Middleweight division.
Ryder is a tough opponent who has taken on the likes of Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith. He has proven to be a tough-out that is slightly above fringe contender status, but right below the elite-level of a division.
This fight would offer Golovkin an opponent who is Canelo-lite (emphasis on the lite). He is a patient boxer when faced with someone with elite movement. He moves with intention to strike to the body and throws combinations to meet his opponents’ attacks.
Given that Ryder, GGG and Canelo are all on the same schedule, there are a few things DAZN could accomplish with strategic planning. First, DAZN could mirror this weekend’s scheduling in May – host GGG-Ryder on Friday, May 7th, with Canelo taking on Billy Joe Saunders the following day.
Assuming all goes well, GGG would at worst move into the top-five of the Super Middleweight rankings and Canelo would be holding the WBC, WBA, WBO, The Ring and Linel titles.
Along with the natural anticipation from seeing these men on Cinco de Mayo weekend, DAZN would be able to push this bout to Mexican Independence Day weekend in September. This is an elite fight-week and would likely be able to host more opponents as the world hopefully moves-on from COVID.
Now in my original suggestion, I wanted Canelo to take on Caleb Plant that weekend, but Canelo’s team could still strengthen his relationship with Al Haymon on the backend and frame the postponed matchup as an opportunity for both Canelo and Plant to maximize their standing in the sport. While Canelo wouldn’t need the extra promotion, exiting a GGG bout after taking on the top two 168 pounders just prior, would create about as much hype that can be possibly built.
GGG would finally get the trilogy bout he craves, and all parties, Canelo, GGG and DAZN, would maximize their possible earnings. The book on Canelo-GGG could finally be closed and each man could move on knowing that no stone was left unturned.
Golovkin is a future Hall of Famer and is unfortunately near the end of his career. 2021 will likely prove to be his last stand as an elite within the sport and The Bad Promoter would love nothing more than to see him conclude his career going down swinging.
