Gennady Golovkin-Dominic Wade on April 23rd – a mismatch or will the underdog rise to the ultimate challenge?

02/10/201602/09/2016 James Slater

While the entire boxing world waits and waits for the guaranteed explosion that is a middleweight unification showdown between the unbeaten Gennady Golovkin and the once beaten Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, “GGG” keeps himself busy and also deals with a mandatory defence by taking on Dominic Wade on April 23rd.

Golovkin, 34-0(31) will defend his collection of middleweight belts against Wade, 18-0(12) at The Forum in Inglewood, California. As would be the case with nearly every middleweight out there at the moment, Wade enters the fight as a considerable underdog, with some going as far as to call the fight a big mismatch. But Golovkin, who absolutely craves the big fights, as he has made clear time and again, has to keep busy. While Wade, a 25-year-old from Maryland, deserves credit for stepping up and taking a fight with the most feared man in boxing.

Golovkin won’t negotiate with Canelo on weight

01/30/2016 Abdi Haid

WBC middleweight champion Saul Canelo Alvarez is going to need to decision whether he wants to defend his WBC title against his mandatory challenger Gennady Golovkin or not. Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler says that they will negotiate on weight for the fight.
The decision not to negotiate on the weight for the fight likely comes from Golovkin himself rather than Loeffler.

Letting Canelo, a much more popular fighter, have his way in the negotiations would seem like a normal thing for most fighter’s management to do. If Canelo wants a weight advantage, then it would make sense to allow him to have the advantage in order to get the fight. Golovkin is said to be lighter fighter than Canelo, so it shouldn’t be a big deal for him to agree to the 155lb catch-weight that Canelo requests for the fight.

Golovkin might not face Wade next

01/29/201601/29/2016 Carlos Ortiz

Earlier this week, the International Boxing Federation said that IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) will need to face #3 IBF Dominic Wade (18-0, 12 KOs) next. The IBF replaced the injured #1 IBF Tureano Johnson (19-1, 13 KOs) with the 25-year-old Wade. It was thought that Golovkin would be stuck facing Wade in his next fight on April 23 on HBO instead of a more interesting opponent that the fight fans would be eager to see.

DeGale: Golovkin needs to move up in weight

01/29/201601/28/2016 Abdi Haid

By Abdi Haid: IBF super middleweight champion James “Chunky” DeGale (22-1, 14 KOs) says he’s interested in facing IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs), but for that fight to happen, Golovkin will need to move up in weight. DeGale believes that it’ll be an even fight when Golovkin does move up in weight because his punching power won’t be as pronounced in the 168lb division as it is at 160 right now against the opposition he’s been facing. DeGale says Golovkin is short and only 5’9″, and he believes he’s going to have some serious tests when he goes up a weight division.

Golovkin clears up Groves sparring rumors

01/29/201601/28/2016 Abdi Haid

By Abdi Haid: In the past, British super middleweight George Groves sparred with unbeaten middleweight Gennady Golovkin to help him out to get ready for one of his fights. Not long after their sparring sessions rumors surfaced about how the hard hitting Groves knocked Golovkin to the canvas during the sparring sessions. A lot of boxing fans believed this.

However, this week, Golovkin finally cleared the air about what happened during the sparring sessions, saying that it was spar for him because Groves didn’t have much in the way of hand speed. Golovkin further said he hurt Groves with a body shot that he thinks broke his ribs. At this point the sparring session was halted by Groves’ team.

Roach: Canelo vs. Golovkin is never going to happen

01/27/2016 Rob Smith

Trainer Freddie Roach believes that boxing fans are never going to see a match-up between WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) and unbeaten IBF/IBO/WBA 160lb champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs). Roach doesn’t say why he doesn’t believe the fight will happen, but it’s likely due to the huge risk involved for Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions, the promoters for Canelo.

“You know that fights [Canelo-Golovkin] never going to happen,” Roach said to tha boxing voice. “I like Triple G. I think he’s a great fighter. I think he’s one of the best fighters in the world. No [he’s not a draw].”

Golovkin could face Dominic Wade next

01/27/2016 ESB

By Abdi Haid: IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin would like nothing better than to face WBC 160lb champ Saul Canelo Alvarez in his next fight in April so that he can get the fight over with and pick up the WBC strap from the catch-weight champion, but Canelo and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions don’t want the fight with Golovkin yet. The two fighters are supposed to take interim fights in April and May before working out a deal for a fight later this year in September.

Golovkin doesn’t have an opponent for his next fight. That’s a problem. His promoters at K2 couldn’t work out a deal with WBO champ Billy Joe Saunders.

Saunders willing to fight Golovkin in England for less money

01/07/2016 Kevin Chittenden

WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) would be willing to take less money if IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) were willing to travel to the UK to fight him over there in his own home territory for a unification fight in April.

Golovkin and his management are the ones that really want the fight with Saunders, as they want to pick up another title so that they can have a chance to unify all the belts. It seems less important to Saunders to unify the titles. He just won the WBO belt in beating Andy Lee last December, and he wants to hold onto his belt as long as possible and make some good defenses of his title.

Saunders wants Golovkin to increase offer

01/07/2016 Kevin Chittenden

It’s not going to be easy for Gennady Golovkin and his management to get a unification fight against WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders for April 23. Saunders is saying that the offer that was made to him by Golovkin’s management at K2 Promotions was not enough for him to agree to a fight against the 33-year-old IBF/IBO/WBA champion Golovkin.

Saunders, 26, says he wants more money and/or Golovkin to agree to come to the UK to fight him. Golovkin fights on HBO, so it’s not probable that he would be able to fight Saunders in the UK due to the time zone issues HBO would have to deal with in a fight like this.

Golovkin vs. Tureano Johnson in the works for 4/23

01/06/2016 Jeff Sorby

If WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders doesn’t accept the offer made to him by IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s promoters at K2 for a unification fight in April, then Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) will face his #1 IBF mandatory Tureano Johnson (19-1, 13 KOs) on April 23rd. The fight will be televised on HBO Championship boxing at Madison Square Garden in New York.

This would not be a pay-per-view bout like the 33-year-old Golovkin’s last fight in October against IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux. Tureano, 31, is a good fighter, but he is not popular enough for Golovkin to fight on PPV against him.