Talks of a potential third fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin are reportedly starting to cool down, potentially leading to the fight being scrapped altogether.
While the plan is still to have Alvarez, the unified WBA and IBF middleweight champion, fight on September 14, on Mexican Independence Day weekend, issues during negotiations between the two have continued to slow down the progress on a deal being signed. One of the main issues is the location for the fight.
From the Golovkin camp, the idea of facing Alvarez in Las Vegas a third time is one he is not interested in. It's no secret that Golovkin was incredibly upset over the scoring in the first two fights, which saw both men fight to a draw in 2017 and then Alvarez beat Golovkin by majority decision in 2018. Among the six scorecards used for both fights, which took place at the T-Mobile Arena, Golovkin was ahead on just one of them.
However, a new wrinkle in the mystery that is Alvarez's next opponent has appeared in the form of WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. Alvarez potentially facing Kovalev next is a concept that has picked up steam in recent weeks but Kovalev's name has been brought up by Golden Boy Promotions all the way back in early May after Alvarez defeated Daniel Jacobs to capture the IBF middleweight title. Though the concept of Alvarez moving up two weight classes to face Kovalev may seem far-fetched at first, Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez told ESPN the Mexican star is very serious about making that fight possible.
As it stands, no formal offer had been made to either Kovalev or Main Events, which promotes Kovalev. In addition, Kovalev is currently undergoing negotiations with mandatory challenger Anthony Yarde in a fight that the WBO ordered months ago.
In a previous report, Golovkin?s team had insisted that the third fight take place either in Texas or at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Both Alvarez and Golovkin are under lucrative multi-year deals to fight exclusively on DAZN and the streaming service had been trying to pit the two of them together for this year in what is still one of boxing's biggest fights. Golovkin is coming off a knockout win over Steve Rolls on June 8 at Madison Square Garden on DAZN. After the fight, Golovkin proceeded to call out Alvarez to come fight him in New York.
Even if fights against Golovkin and Kovalev can't be made for September, Alvarez does still have multiple suitors that could face him this fall. There is WBO middleweight titleholder Demetrius Andrade, who said he would accept an offer to face Alvarez if he comes out victorious after a title defense against Maciej Sulecki in Providence, Rhode Island on June 29. That fight will be streamed on DAZN in the United States.
Callum Smith, who holds the WBA super middleweight title, is also under consideration especially since his promoter, Matchroom Boxing, also has a broadcast deal with DAZN. Alvarez's first two fights on DAZN were against Rocky Fielding and Jacobs, both of whom are also promoted by Matchroom Boxing. Also waiting in the wings is Sergiy Derevyanchenko, the current mandatory challenger to Alvarez's IBF portion of the middleweight championship.
Alvarez's reign as the WBA and WBC middleweight champion began last year with the win against Golovkin in their rematch. With the win over Jacobs, Alvarez briefly held three of the four major titles at 160 pounds but his time as the WBC champion came to an end recently with the announcement that he has been elevated to Franchise champion, meaning that interim titlist Jermall Charlo is the new WBC middleweight titleholder. Alvarez also holds the WBA?s secondary belt at super middleweight.