Gennady Golovkin and Erislandy Lara could fight this year. A purse bid has been called by the WBA, this after one was previously announced last month. The latest purse bid has been called for March 13, in Panama City. As per a statement from the WBA, the minimum amount of $200,000 to obtain the rights and the split will be 75% for Golovkin and 25% for Lara and will be directed by the vice-chairman of the championship committee, the Panamanian Julio Thyme.
The ultimate plan as per the governing body, is to have just a single champion at each weight. Currently, Golovkin is the WBA “super” champion at middleweight, while Lara holds the WBA “regular” belt at the weight.
GGG was last seen dropping a surprisingly close decision to bitter rival Canelo Alvarez, who seemed to have won more rounds than the three judges had their trilogy fight scored. Now aged 40 (GGG will turn 41 in April) Golovkin is 42-2-1(37). GGG vacated his IBF middleweight title in February of this year and this leaves him with just the WBA title.
Lara is currently 39 (he will hit 40 in April) and has a record of 29-3-3(17). Like Golovkin, the Cuban southpaw has engaged in numerous world title fights, Lara having previously held the WBA light middleweight title. It was in May of 2021 when Lara defeated Thomas LaManna to win the WBA “regular” belt at 160 pounds. Lara last fought in May of last year, when he retained the belt with a stoppage win over Gary O’Sullivan. Like GGG, we don’t know how much Lara has left in the tank at this stage.
But a Golovkin-Lara fight could turn out to be an interesting, lively affair. Lara has good skills and he can also fight in the trenches, and we all continue to admire Triple G, his granite chin still serving him so well all these years into his career. Lara could conceivably outbox Golovkin, making him look bad in the process. Or GGG could prove too strong and powerful for Lara.
Let’s see how many bids there are placed in an effort at winning the rights to this fight. Do both fighters want it? And if they do fight, where might a Golovkin-Lara fight be held? Neither man has ever been stopped.