Despite having a venue secured for his scheduled May 5 fight in Las Vegas, Gennady Golovkin and his team could move to another state for the unified middleweight champion's return.
According to a report from Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times, Golovkin is considering moving his next fight on May 5 to the StubHub Center in California. The report said Golovkin's team are currently working to making the change in venue as Golovkin's next fight is currently scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Golovkin, the unified WBA "super," WBC, IBF and IBO middleweight champion, still does not have an opponent for May 5 after Canelo Alvarez withdrew from the fight in early April after failing two drug tests in February for traces of clenbuterol. Alvarez is awaiting a ruling from the Nevada State Athletic Commission on April 18 on the length of a possible suspension, that could last a year.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission approved Golovkin's request to move his May 5 fight from the T-Mobile Arena, where he was going to face Alvarez, to the MGM Grand. The commission did, however, deny Golovkin's request to face unbeaten Mexican boxer Jaime Munguia.
The StubHub Center has been a hotbed for world championship boxing fights in recent years. The venue hosted HBO's first "Superfly" event last year where Srisaket Sor Rungvisai defeated Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez to retain his WBC super flyweight title. Golovkin last fought at the StubHub Center in 2014 when he knocked out Marco Antonio Rubio in the second round, setting the all-time StubHub Center attendance record of 9,323.
