WBA sends Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs middleweight title bout to purse bid

The World Boxing Assn. on Wednesday assigned the Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs middleweight title fight to a purse bid for Dec. 19, although the sides still have until that date to broker a deal.

A purse bid allows any promoter licensed by the WBA to present a silent bid to host the bout, and the sanctioning body would then unveil the winning bid in Panama on Dec. 19.

It would be quite surprising if it gets that far considering Brooklyn’s WBA world middleweight champion Jacobs (32-1, 29 knockouts) is in line to earn only a 25% split of the purse, according to WBA guidelines.

Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (36-0, 33 knockouts), who resides in Los Angeles and trains in Big Bear, would receive 75% of the purse because of his standing as the WBA super champion.

Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler and Jacobs manager Al Haymon have been in negotiations for more than one month, and Loeffler described the discussions as “positive” early last week.

The WBA issued a deadline last week that the sides had until Wednesday to issue contracts. When the deadline expired, WBA President Gilberto Mendoza sent the fight to purse bid.

Loeffler is reportedly interested in having the bout at Madison Square Garden on March 18, with HBO televising the card that would mark the favored Golovkin’s final bout before his anticipated showdown against Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez in September.

Jacobs has previously fought at Barclays Center in his hometown, leaving open a possibility that the arena and Showtime would present a bid to stage the bout in Brooklyn.

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