Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) Chairman & CEO Oscar de la Hoya said the long-awaited Alvarez-Golovkin fight is likely to happen in September this year.
But GBP president Eric Gomez was quick to qualify De la Hoya’s statement saying the Golovkin fight would be irrelevant if Alvarez loses to Chavez on Saturday.
“We’re close and I think we can get the fight done,” Gomez said before an Alvarez-Chavez press conference Wednesday afternoon at MGM Grand. “But obviously we have to wait and see what happens this Saturday. That’s the most important thing. If he loses, there is no Golovkin fight.” Gomez added.
De la Hoya, whose company promotes Alvarez, has been under extreme pressure from restive fans to make the fight happen after several failed attempts last year.
While Dela Hoya did not disclose the real reason for his company’s failure to stage the fight following a mutual agreement by the parties to do interim fights, boxing insiders point to Golovkin’s low pay-per-view numbers as the real reason for the delay.
About a year ago, Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach said fans should not blame Alvarez for the unnecessary delay saying the Mexican star is not scared of Golovkin but because there is a business issue that needs to be resolved.
“They’re all blaming Canelo, but look, fighters aren’t scared,” said Roach, who believes Golovkin will eventually become a PPV attraction. “It’s a business decision by his promoter. I don’t know why the blame went to the kid.”
“Why fight the toughest guy for no money? I think Triple-G is the best pound-for-pound guy out there right now. I rate him very highly. But he’s not that kind of a draw yet. Eventually, he will be, but that fight is going to just get bigger,” he added. Read more:
Alvarez is a huge favorite to win but news from Chavez’s training camp indicate that the son of Mexican boxing legend has improved tremendously after his high altitude training in Mexico.
“The difference [this training camp] is I was listening to my corner, Mr. Beristain,” Chavez said. “He had me doing certain training and I did it. It was very difficult in the beginning getting used to this new regimen, but it’s something that I did. I followed it and I think that’s the difference in this fight.” he added.
