Gennady Golovkin Must Swallow His Pride If He Wants a Canelo Alvarez Superfight
It was the offer heard 'round the world.
Or at least the suggestion of an offer heard 'round the world.
Shortly after Canelo Alvarez pounded Liam Smith's liver into mush before 50,000 sycophants on the outskirts of Dallas, he insisted to HBO's Max Kellerman that the most recent salvo in the deal-making firefight between he and Gennady Golovkin had been fired in the Kazakh's direction:
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"I fear no one. I was born for this. And even though many people may not like it, I am the best fighter right now. About a month ago, we offered him twice or three times as much to make the fight. I didn't want to say anything because I respect all my rivals, but about a month ago, we offered him twice or three times, so we're ready. We're ready for him. He didn't want to accept.
"
Given the portrayal of Golovkin as the sport's most avoided fighter—and the vibe that it's the Mexican who's done everything possible to steer clear of a summit—it was a shocking paradigm shift.
One that begged a quick "that's nonsense" response from Team GGG to restore equilibrium.
But a subsequent exchange with Golovkin’s promoter provided nothing in the way of normalcy.
"I'm in contact with Golden Boy (Alvarez's promoter) and we're in discussions, but no sense to negotiate in the media for the biggest fight in boxing," Tom Loeffler, managing director of K2 Promotions, told Bleacher Report. "GGG wants to do that fight as soon as possible. That's why we will continue to discuss to see what's realistic to try to make that fight happen."
And therein a 52-word tap dance lies the marketing rub.
Regardless of whether Alvarez's spurned offer is either semi- or fully fictional, the mere implication that Golovkin’s acceptance of the bout would hinge on fiscal issues—rather than any means necessary—goes a long way toward sideswiping a notion that his pursuit is as dogged as it's framed.
In other words, it may be GGG who's keeping everything in a holding pattern after all.
Rightly or wrongly, the words from Loeffler leave an impression that there'll be no green light on Golovkin's side of the street until the prodigious KO machine gets what he thinks he deserves. And the longer such "I've got to get mine" stubbornness persists, the more the middleweight saga will begin to resemble one that plagued the welterweight division for half a decade until sensible heads prevailed.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to "The Road to Mayweather-Pacquiao" Part II.
Lest anyone forget, the extravaganza involving a brash American ticket-seller and a dynamic Filipino fan favorite was delayed indefinitely because the popular party equated consensus acclaim with economic might.
And until the people's choice bit the bullet and took the terms that the A-side offered, the fight wasn't going to happen—because the A-side, flush with lucrative options, didn't need it as much.
For example, just seven weeks after Floyd Mayweather fought Miguel Cotto and drew 1.5 million pay-per-view buys in the spring of 2012, Manny Pacquiao's PPV match with Timothy Bradley was more than 40 percent short at 890,000. A year later, Mayweather and Alvarez joined forces to draw 2.2 million buys in September 2013, exactly 70 days before Pacquiao and Brandon Rios yielded only 475,000.
And in their final respective fights before they finally met, Kevin Iole of Yahoo reported Mayweather logged 925,000 buys for a second straight defeat of Marcos Maidana in September 2014, while Pacquiao was less than half the viewing draw (400,000 buys) for pounding Chris Algieri the subsequent November.
Not surprisingly, by the time 2015 arrived, a 60-40 split initially spurned was quickly spent.
Nevertheless, 16 months later, those ignoring that history appear doomed to repeat it.
Rather than quibbling over who's proved what and is entitled to more, the folks in K2's boardroom would be best served by ditching the hubris, focusing on the objective—simply getting Alvarez into a roped ring—and delaying the payoff until after the referee completes a decisive 10-count.
Golovkin's the more accomplished middleweight. We all know that. But when the other guy can draw 50,000 for a glorified sparring session, that's what matters.
If GGG's hunger for the match is as strong as implied, it won't be a tough pill to swallow.
And unless Billy Joe Saunders is anyone's idea of a main course, it'll serve up far more satisfying.
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