Gennady Golovkin, Chavez Jr. camps target a July 12 fight at Forum

Unbeaten middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin wants to accept former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s offer of a summer fight, with promoters for each boxer targeting a July 12 bout at the Forum in Inglewood.

Golovkin (29-0, 26 knockouts) pulled out of a late April title defense against Andy Lee to follow his country’s ritual of a 40-day mourning period after the late-February death of his father in Kazakhstan.

Chavez (48-1-1, 32 KOs) looked strong in winning a unanimous decision over Bryan Vera on Saturday night in San Antonio, with Golovkin’s Big Bear-based trainer Abel Sanchez and promoter Tom Loeffler in attendance.

Loeffler said he’d been in talks with Chavez promoter Bob Arum two weeks earlier and was impressed by Chavez’s performance.

Loeffler said a Chavez-Golovkin pay-per-view fight would be at Chavez’s current 168-pound super-middleweight limit.

Chavez said after the Saturday fight that he wanted Golovkin next.

“That’s the fight Gennady has always wanted,” Loeffler said. “We anticipate there’ll be no issues in July, taking the fight against Chavez.

“Gennady wants the biggest names, to win titles. It’s been frustrating getting champions to fight him. But Chavez is one of the top names in boxing, and there’s great interest in this fight.”

Loeffler said the popularity of Chavez –- son of a legendary former four-division champion –- and Golovkin, whose ratings on HBO have sharply increased with each fight, make for a compelling matchup.

“Two well-known fighters with two very supportive fan bases,” Loeffler said.

Loeffler said he expects to confer again soon with Arum and says that Golovkin should be back in the Southland by the end of March.

“The Forum is a great choice, with Gennady training in Big Bear and Chavez having ties to the L.A. community,” Loeffler said. “From our side, a summertime fight against Chavez makes the most sense.”