Middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin is expected to vacate his WBA title if the networks choose not to make a well-paying offer for his ordered fight against Erislandy Lara.
Lara turns 40 in April, while Golovkin will be 41 in the same month. Whatever interest there once was from fans in a Golovkin vs. Lara fight seven to ten years ago, it’s not there anymore. It’s a fight that has reached its sell-by-date.
If Golovkin wants to hawk a fight to one of the networks, he will need to fight someone with a fan base because Lara is rarely talked about nowadays. One of these guys is what Golovkin needs:
- Caleb Plant
- David Benavidez
- Jermell Charlo
- Dmitry Bivol
- Artur Beterbiev
- Errol Spence Jr
- Terence Crawford
- Jaron Ennis
To get a network interested in seeing Golovkin fight, he’ll need to pool from fighters in different weight classes other than the middleweight division because that weight class is dead. No one at 160 that has enough of a fan base for Golovkin to fight that would interest one of the networks to pay him the kind of money he’d been accustomed to getting in the past.
Earlier this week, Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) vacated his IBF title after he was ordered by the sanctioning body to defend it against his mandatory Esquiva Falcao.
According to Chris Mannix, none of the networks were interested in making a lucrative offer to Golovkin for that fight, which isn’t surprising because it would be a similar match-up as GGG’s past fights with him fighting an obscure opponent that brings nothing to the table.
When Golovkin was under contract with DAZN, he had a series of less-than-thrilling opponents during a three-period, with fights against Steve Rolls, Kamil Szeremeta, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and Ryota Murata.
Instead of fighting guys that fans wanted to see, like Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Jermell Charlo, Sebastian Fundora, David Benavidez, and Caleb Plant, Golovkin opted to fight four no-names.
“Gennadiy Golovkin? The middleweight champion is now one belt lighter after vacating his IBF title this week. Golovkin was facing a mandatory defense against Esquiva Falcao, a fight none of the major networks were interested in,” said Chris Mannix of SI. “Golovkin could face a similar decision later this month; the WBA has ordered a purse bid for Golovkin and Erislandy Lara. It’s unlikely Triple-G will receive a lucrative offer for that fight, either. Golovkin said in September he has no intention of retiring, but it’s likely the next time he steps into the ring, he will do it without a world title around his waist.”
