DAZN is strongly finishing 2020 next month with Gennadiy Golovkin expected to face Kamil Szeremeta on December 18th, Canelo Alvarez fighting Callum Smith on December 19th Ryan Garcia battling Luke Campbell on December 26h.
The December 18th date for the Golovkin-Szeremeta match isn’t yet official. Michael Coppinger is saying it’s a possibility.
Golovkin needs to get this fight out of the way so that he can be an option for Canelo Alvarez on Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend next May. However, it would have been far better for Golovkin to take on a household name for his December 18th.
With the beating that GGG took in his last fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko a year ago, fighting the weak-punching Szeremeta will give him a chance to breeze through a fight without taking damage.
But on the negative side, fans aren’t paying attention to Golovkin’s match-up against Szeremeta, which is bad news for DAZN and him.
Golovkin is turning 39 in May, so it could be his decision to take an easy fight against Szeremeta is him coasting into retirement rather than finishing on a strong note.
Golovkin vs. Szeremeta has gone under the radar
Compared to some of Golovkin’s past fights, the title defense of his IBF middleweight belt against IBF mandatory against unbeaten Szeremeta (21-0, 5 KOs) has received almost no attention at all. It’s going to be interesting to see if the promotion for Golovkin vs. Szeremeta is nonexistent up to the December 18th fight.
Golovkin has been taking a low profile since his war with Sergiy Derevyanchenko last year in October 2019. The powerful GGG won the fight by a 12 round decision to capture the vacant IBF 160-lb title, but it wasn’t vintage Golovkin.
Although his punching power appeared to be as good as ever, Golovkin struggled with the pressure, work rate, and body punching from Derevyanchenko.
GGG was hurt in the fifth from a hard shot to the midsection from the upset-minded Derevyanchenko, and he may have been saved from being knocked down by the referee getting in the way of the Ukrainian fighter when he was unloading on him.
The unkindest cut of all was how Golovkin was booed unmercifully by the Madison Square Garden crowd while being interviewed after the fight. The fans, who likely came into the Golovkin-Derevyanchenko contest, pro-GGG, felt that he had lost the fight, and they were not pleased with the controversial decision.
Golovkin could have defused the booing by telling the fans that he would give Derevyanchenko a rematch, but he didn’t do that, and he’s NOT going to fight him again.
Instead, Golovkin is taking on the unknown Szeremeta next, who inexplicably has been given a #1 ranking by the International Boxing Federation at 160 despite never having fought anyone notable during his career.
Szeremeta’s last seven opponents:
- Oscar Cortes
- Edwin Palacios
- Andrew Francillette
- Ruben Diaz
- Alessandro Goddi
- Sebastian Skrzypczynski (12-14)
- Jose Antonio Villalobos (9-3)
Szeremeta arguably doesn’t belong ranked #1 by the IBF, but this is the ranking they’ve given him based on his recent wins over the above-listed fighters. Golovkin is making a questionable move in using up one of his fights on his DAZN contract fighting Szeremeta, and it seems like a mistake on his part.
GGG would be better off forgetting about Szeremeta
If Golovkin wants to take a softer opponent, he should have gone after Billy Joe Saunders, Avni Yildirim, or Ryota Murata. At least boxing fans have heard of those fighters before.
Many boxing fans came away from the Derevyanchenko fight thinking Golovkin looked old and should have lost the fight.
Golovkin’s decision to keep the IBF title and defend it EARLY against the little known Polish fighter Szeremeta is a questionable move on his part. Taking that path improves Golovkin’s chances of winning the fight. It does nothing to rebuild his credibility after his questionable win over Derevyanchenko and his defeat against Canelo Alvarez in 2018.
What Golovkin really needs at this time is a win over a credible opponent that will help him rejuvenate his sagging career. He needs to erase the perception in the boxing public’s eyes that he’s an aging, deteriorating fighter.
Choosing to defend his IBF title against the obscure fighter Szeremeta is not the right course for Golovkin to be taking to show fans that he’s still the same guy that was viewed as a terror from 2012 to 2017.
Three huge fight cards on DAZN in December
Those three events are a strong signal that DAZN will remain a major player in boxing going into 2021.
Some initially believed that superstar Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) severing ties with DAZN would be a major blow to the streaming platform. But as it turns out, Canelo’s next fight against WBA super-middleweight champion Callum Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) will be shown on DAZN on December 19th, and it’s as if nothing has changed at all.
If Canelo wins that fight against the dangerous Smith, he could be taking on WBO super-middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders on DAZN in his next match.
The lightweight fight between unbeaten Ryan Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) and Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) on December 26th should be a thrilling one. If Ryan wins, he’s already made it clear that he wants to take on WBA 135lb champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Ryan could be Golden Boy Promotions’ next huge star, a replacement for Canelo Alvarez. Oscar De La Hoya views King Ryan as a fighter capable of saying amassing a fortune of $700 million from the sport. Gosh, that is a heck of a lot of money.
If Garcia defeats Tank Davis, Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney, and Vasily Lomachenko, he might become the #1 fighter in North America. It would be difficult for Canelo Alvarez to keep up with Ryan Garcia if he took on less known British fighters like Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders.
Garcia has got a tough opponent in front of him in 2012 Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell on December 26th. The two will weigh-on December 25th, and then battle it out in the headliner on DAZN on December 26, likely in San Antonio, Texas.
Only 22-years-old, Ryan Garcia is already a millionaire and lives in a big house. According to Celebritynetworth, King Ryan already has a net worth of $10 million. The thing amazing thing about that is, Ryan has never captured a world title. He’s still just a mere contender, and yet he has a bigger fortune than some of the former and current world champions.
It doesn’t hurt that Ryan has 7.5 million followers on Instagram. In contrast, Canelo Alvarez has 7 million. What does that tell you? The sky is the limit for King Ryan. All he needs is to start beating the top lightweights in the division to realize his potential of becoming the #1 fighter in the U.S and possibly in the world.
