Legendary promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank) shared entertaining thoughts about the trilogy between cult antagonists Saul Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) from Mexico and Gennady Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) from Kazakhstan, and also managed to promote his newly-minted Kazakhstani champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (12-0, 8 KOs).
Over the weekend, Canelo Alvarez confidently passed the 40-year-old Golovkin – they fought for the title of absolute super middleweight champion.
Arum
thinksthat “Even at 40, Golovkin remains an elite middleweight because he is so good from a technical point of view. But keep in mind that this is a very serious age, especially for a middleweight. Yes, his skills have seriously deteriorated. Another problem is that he is used to solid fees. And now it will be very difficult for him to make a middleweight fight, because few people can offer the same financial value.
Boss Top Rank, of course, hints at the unification of Golovkin with Alimkhanuly, because Gennady still has WBA Super and IBF middleweight titles: “Zhanibek is just an incredible fighter. I speak objectively. The point is not that he is also from Kazakhstan. He’s just amazingly talented. But no, alas, I do not see an option to bring GGG and Zhanibek together in a head-to-head match. And to be honest, the reason is money – it will simply not be possible to satisfy Gennady’s requests. Although at this stage of his career, Alimkhanuly is definitely stronger.”
Arum suggests that another unification is in store for Golovkin: “I think (WBC champion) Jermall Charlo will beat GGG at this point in his career. But to tell the truth, with the peak Golovkin, he would not have had a chance. But the peak GGG remained in the distant past. And the current Charlo, perhaps, will pass.
According to Arum, “The problem with Canelo is that he combines boxing training with golf. And he does it even on the eve of the most important fights in his career. You can’t do this, because this way you just “kill” your legs. He is a very cool person, I really like him. But his passion for golf is to his detriment. And his performances in the last fights held speak about the same. No, it’s all golf, not divisional jumping. Average weight? No, I think he will not make this limit anymore. He will now continue in the second middle and light heavyweight divisions.”
For now, all the talk is about Canelo’s chances against David Benavidez. Robert Garcia argues, and Golovkin’s ex-coach shared his opinion.
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