Who will Gennady Golovkin fight next?

By James Slater - 05/21/2016 - Comments

Unbeaten middleweight and pound-for-pound star Gennady Golovkin, now the holder off all major belts at 160-pounds barring the WBO belt currently held by Britain’s Billy Joe Saunders, needs a fight. Having been disappointed over the way Mexican star Saul Alvarez opted to hand him his WBC title instead of signing to fight him in September (we can hope the mega-fight will still happen but nobody is holding their breath), GGG now searches anew for his next opponent.

GGG took to his Twitter account yesterday, asking fans who they would like to see him fight. With Alvarez seemingly out of the picture for now at least, there seems to be pretty slim pickings at middleweight. British son of a great fighter, Chris Eubank Junior has thrown his hat into the ring, insisting he is serious about wanting to face Triple-G in September.

The name factor would possibly attract a sufficiently curious number of fans willing to pay for this fight, and if Junior has inherited his father’s legendary chin, who knows, the once-beaten 26-year-old might be able to give Golovkin a run for his money.

If the WBA push their mandatory forward, GGG will have to face Danny Jacobs if he wants to keep that particular belt (and Golovkin wants all the belts as we know). Jacobs, coming off that impressive, and wholly unexpected, 1st-round stoppage win over Peter Quillin, is a talented fighter in his own right; one who has also shown plenty of heart and courage (in and out of the ring) and this fight would likely attract quite a crowd in New York. Sure, it’s tough to give Jacobs anything other than a long shot chance of winning (or even being competitive) but Golovkin is likely to adhere to the WBA’s orders to fight Jacobs if the governing body pushes the fight.

Another fighter who says he wants a piece of GGG, one possessing far more amateur and world class experience than Eubank Jr and Jacobs, is Cuban southpaw Erislandy Lara. Speaking with RingTV.com ahead of tonight’s rematch with Vanes Martirosyan, Lara said he would love to fight either Alvarez – in a rematch of their close, even controversial 2014 fight, one that Canelo won via 12-round split decision – or, more preferably, Golovkin next. Lara is annoyed at the way he is not getting the big, big fights he deserves and he said he would cheerfully fight both Alvarez and Golovkin.

Lara is undeniably good at what he does, but is he exciting enough and known enough to the average fan to be acceptable as a challenger for Golovkin? With his slick style, his stance and the fact that he has never been stopped, maybe Lara will be looked at by Team-GGG as an interesting test. British southpaw Saunders, the holder of the only belt Golovkin has not yet got his hands on, would certainly make a desirable foe for Golovkin, who, as he has said many times, really wants to become undisputed ruler at middleweight. But does Saunders really want the fight?

Golovkin says he is more anxious to fight than ever before, so he will have to find a challenger soon. For my money, Lara gives GGG the toughest fight, but Jacobs looks more likely to be the next guy to face the avoided skills of the KO artist.