The biggest boxing bout of 2016 is officially happening!
Earlier today, The World Boxing Council revealed that middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin would be allowed one pre-fight, before their upcoming fall showdown.
Alvarez did nearly a million pay-per-view buys for his WBC middleweight title victory over Miguel Cotto, but Gennady’s MSG outing against Lemieux for his IBF Middleweight title did minimal numbers in comparison – drawing a mere 150,000 for his debut HBO PPV.
Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler would like Golovkin to fight WBA champion Daniel Jacobs this spring; but another possibility could be the winner of this Saturday’s upcoming WBO middleweight title fight between Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders.
Eric Gomez and Golden Boy Promotions, however, haven’t been public on who they’d like Alvarez to fight just yet, revealing their fighter has been having his best bouts right now at 154. While catching up to GGG at 160 won’t be a problem come next fall, we’re sure Oscar De La Hoya and his team will have something planned for Cinco de Mao weekend on May 7th.
Both Golden Boy and K2 Promotions had a Friday deadline to make a deal for the fight, but it was extended to today for both sides to make interim bouts, which was announced today.
Failing to do so, would’ve resulted in Alvarez being stripped of the WBC Middleweight belt, thus canceling any title plans between the two. Surprisingly, Las Vegas isn’t in the plans for the showdown, as AT&T Stadium and Madison Square Garden are the two venues being tossed around.
So, the fight has been confirmed for fall 2016. The only thing Golden Boy and K2 Promotions haven’t figured out, is whether the event will take place in either Dallas or New York City.
Canelo Dominates Cotto to Win Middleweight Title, Calls out GGG