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Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs fight moved off Dec. 10, aiming for early 2017 date

Gennady Golovkin celebrates after defeating Kell Brook in September.
(Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
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Negotiations for a Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs middleweight title fight remain active, but they won’t be concluded in time to allow for a bout by Dec.10 as originally planned.

Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that while a site and date will follow an agreement on financial terms, the bout appears headed to a February or March date.

“Negotiations are taking longer than we anticipated and a fight of this magnitude needs a longer promotional schedule than we’d get if we tried to keep it on Dec. 10,” Loeffler said.

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Loeffler had Madison Square Garden on hold for Dec. 10. He said that famed arena is still in play, but the focus now is mostly on striking a financial deal.

Part of the delay had to do with the World Boxing Assn. position on upholding its policy that its primary “super” champion, Golovkin (36-0, 33 knockouts), deserves a 75% purse split against the WBA’s secondary “world” champion Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs).

Jacobs’ camp sought to make it a fairer 60-40 split, but the WBA last week maintained the 75-25 policy.

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“Naturally, we’re trying to work out a deal to avoid going to purse bid,” where a 75-25 split would be in play, “so we’re both happy,” Loeffler said. “There is still a deadline out there, but in the discussions right now, the time pressure is off.”

Loeffler is negotiating with Al Haymon, Jacobs’ manager and head of Premier Boxing Champions.

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