Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin won't happen this year, targeting 'fall 2017'
The much-anticipated fight between Canelo and GGG won't happen until at least next fall
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2 min read
Boxing fans will have to wait at least another year to see a mega-fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.
ESPN's Dan Rafael spoke with Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, who said they had come to an agreement with Golden Boy Promotions to set the target date for the fight as fall 2017. Canelo's camp wants to use a long build-up to the bout to build anticipation for the fight and allow Alvarez to get to weight.
"I met with Eric on Monday, and we had a good, good conversation, and the plan was they want to shoot for fall of 2017," Loeffler told ESPN.com. "It's not going to happen in September of this year, so we'll use the time to build the fight. We wanted the fight in [this past] May.
"It's Gennady's priority to make the Canelo fight as soon as possible, but Golden Boy felt next year would make the most sense on the promotional side and with the weight as well."
In the interim, Golovkin's camp is moving forward with plans to take on British middleweight star Chris Eubank Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs), who will fight this Saturday on the undercard of Anthony Joshua's IBF heavyweight title defense. A bout this September between those two is very likely, with the fight taking place in England, and Golovkin's promoter is trying to be optimistic that an even longer wait for the Canelo fight will be for the best.
"I believe that Canelo wants to fight Gennady. I don't think he is afraid of Gennady, but I think Golden Boy wants to build up the fight, and the time also gives Canelo time to get to 160 pounds," Loeffler said to ESPN.com. "We can jump up and down all we want, but it won't help us get the deal. We have to focus on continuing to build Gennady. The bigger we can make Gennady, the bigger we can make that fight with Canelo, as long as we have to wait."
As for Alvarez, Rafael reports he is targeting a 154-pound opponent, potentially for a title, for his Sept. 17 fight date that has already been sent to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. While he will fight at 154 pounds in his next bout, the plan is for Alvarez to build himself up to 160 pounds so he can go for the belts against Golovkin next fall.
Boxing fans know the waiting game all too well when it comes to big fights. Hopefully this plan won't continue to see dates pushed back and we will get to see Golovkin and Alvarez in the ring with each other next fall.
