Canelo Alvarez’s promoter challenges Gennady Golovkin’s promoter to strike a deal now
Canelo Alvarez’s promoter, Eric Gomez, the president of Golden Boy Promotions, called a counteroffer from middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s promoter “ridiculous” Friday and urged a face-to-face meeting to try to reach a deal on a super-bout.
Although Alvarez and Golovkin wouldn’t fight until September 2017, Gomez said there’s a need to work to finalize an agreement in the near future to properly promote what he says will be “the Super Bowl of boxing.”
“You know when they start promoting the Super Bowl? The Monday after the last one ends,” Gomez said. “That’s what we need to do. When it’s a super-fight like this, you need time to build up for it, to generate the most money possible. That’s what we want to do, and we’ve made a serious offer.”
And from Gomez’s standpoint, Golovkin (36-0, 33 knockouts) is the one dragging his heels. Last month Golovkin said he was expecting a low-ball “$2 million” offer from Alvarez that would allow Mexico’s most popular fighter to continue skirting the sport’s most anticipated fight.
“Golovkin said he takes great pride in boxing, that it’s not about money, that he’s willing to fight. He said we’d make a weak offer,” Gomez said. “We have all these deal points on the table and we’re not getting an answer.
You know when they start promoting the Super Bowl? The Monday after the last one ends. That’s what we need to do.
— Eric Gomez
“I told [them], ‘Let’s sit down and continue the conversation,’ and I haven’t heard back. And if they seriously think we don’t want to make the fight, then take this offer. It’s the most money Golovkin’s ever made.”
On Saturday, Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) knocked out England’s Liam Smith to win the World Boxing Organization junior-middleweight belt before more than 51,000 at AT&T Stadium outside Dallas. Alvarez fractured his right thumb in the bout and is out of action until next year.
Nevertheless, Alvarez’s promoters are seeking to make the Golovkin deal and say they’re offering an eight-figure guarantee with an undisclosed pay-per-view percentage.
Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler answered this week with a proposal seeking a percentage split, accounting for a lucrative site fee and pay-per-view buys that should exceed 1 million for the bout.
“We accept the fact that even though ‘GGG’ is the champion, Canelo would be the ‘A’ side of the promotion,” Loeffler texted The Times this week.
Loeffler sees the divide shortening, however, as Golovkin has sold out Madison Square Garden, the Forum and London’s O2 Arena while extending his knockout streak to 23.
And while Alvarez’s fight with Smith was under 300,000 buys, Golovkin’s fifth-round knockout this month of England’s Kell Brook had 500,000 pay-per-view buys in the U.K.
“I could come up with 10 or 20 points that prove Canelo is … by far the bigger draw,” Gomez said.
“I don’t want to negotiate in the media, but if they want to discuss the rest of the points, come over, sit down. We’re serious about making the fight. No excuses to get out of it. We’re willing to make the fight. The notion we’re scared is ridiculous.
“Call our bluff. We’re ready to make the fight.”
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