Canelo Alvarez Deserves Boxing Fans' Scorn as Gennady Golovkin Talks Stall

Even the most hopeless optimists must be getting a pretty clear idea by now that a highly anticipated clash between Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez and unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin probably isn't happening anytime soon.

Nope, the cinnamon-haired heartthrob and slayer of glass-jawed ex-welterweights talked a big game and then threw his green middleweight belt into the dustbin in the hopes that it would somehow make negotiations go more smoothly.

How's that working out?

Phil D. Jay of World Boxing News got this word on the state of negotiations from GGG's promoter, Tom Loeffler.

"I can confirm that nothing has been forthcoming from Golden Boy since they informed the WBC of their decision," Loeffler said. "We are still hopeful that the fight with Canelo can be made and are open to continuing the discussions as soon as Golden Boy are ready and willing to do so."

Loeffler has always been an honest and forthright guy, and that reads like Golden Boy has gone completely off the grid since Canelo made the decision to vacate, to put aside the "ticking clock" so "the two teams can now negotiate this fight."

This new information makes it seem an awful lot like Canelo's vacating had less to do with his wholehearted commitment to giving the fans the fight they want and more like a hard pumping of the brakes after allowing his mouth to write checks he (or his promoter, or both) didn't want to come due yet.

"I instructed my team at Golden Boy Promotions to continue negotiating a fight with Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin and to finalize a deal as quickly as possible," Canelo's statement read.

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Negotiations generally require conversation among the parties, even if one is currently fighting a lawsuit.

You know, the ole give and take, good cop, bad cop and all that stuff that goes on behind the scenes to make up the fights that monopolize our Saturday nights.

But all the sudden the cat's got your tongue?

Bad visual after making a big deal about your goal of removing deadlines, making talks easier, oh, and dropping F-bombs while telling the world how unafraid you are before dropping your belt via email.

Well, this is business some will say—an odd line of defense from fans who have no monetary incentive and in theory should just want the best fights—and they're not wrong. Boxing is a profession like any other, and the goal is to maximize your earnings while you can.

And here's where you come in.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao combined to create boxing's most lucrative sideshow over near a decade without stepping into the ring until the last possible second.

It featured lawsuits, public spats, false starts, drug-test insinuations and failed negotiations where every single boxing fan was played like a fool and had their intelligence and loyalty insulted.

They did it because they could make fans wait and wait and wait.

They did it because they got paid good money to face lesser challenges.

They did it because when they finally did decide to meet in the ring—long past its expiration date—4 million people ponied up the big bucks and made everyone involved a boatload of cash for a fight that set the sport back years.

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It's impossible to overstate—so soon after that Mayweather-Pacquiao debacle—how bad it would be for boxing to once again have the fans played for suckers and a big fight with heavy public demand denied by the face of the sport.

Canelo can't brand himself the take-on-all-comers face of boxing who represents a clean break from an era dominated by "business" and "timing," not demand or quality, and then take a move right out of the steaming pile of a playbook that dominated that era.

The timing has been right for a while now.

Remember, even pushing the fight to September was a concession from Team GGG.

They wanted the fight as soon as possible but were willing (under the auspices of the WBC) to concede an interim fight for each man ahead of a fall clash.

GGG took care of business against the overmatched Dominic Wade (in his defense, a mandatory challenger), and then Canelo nearly decapitated Amir Khan in a fight that said more of his opponent's willingness to take risks than his commitment to being a middleweight champ.

Golovkin will fight in September regardless of his opponent. You can hardly blame him here.

He's done everything possible to make the fight with Canelo, so if he winds up with Daniel Jacobs, Billy Joe Saunders or Gilberto Ramirez, save your scorn.

Canelo is the one who deserves your anger and animus.

You want him to fight Golovkin?

Then make it clear that if he doesn't, you won't be there with your time or money.

Kevin McRaes is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can follow him on Twitter @McRaeWrites. Unless otherwise noted, quotes were obtained firsthand.