Gennady Golovkin makes counteroffer to Canelo Alvarez while negotiating Daniel Jacobs fight
by Lance Pugmire
Gennady Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, could audition as a Venice Beach juggling act right now.
Loeffler, responding to an offer to fight Canelo Alvarez next September while trying to schedule Golovkin’s next fight, provided updates on both situations Wednesday.
Loeffler said he has made a written, undisclosed counteroffer to fight Alvarez after Oscar De La Hoya, Alvarez’s promoter, said late Saturday night that he could pay three-belt middleweight champion Golovkin at least $10 million plus an undisclosed pay-per-view percentage.
The 26-year-old Alvarez (47-1-1, 34 knockouts) boosted his case as the top draw in the super-fight Saturday by bringing more than 51,000 to AT&T Stadium outside Dallas to see his ninth-round knockout of England’s Liam Smith.
Riding a 23-fight knockout streak with 17 consecutive middleweight title victories, Golovkin (36-0, 33 knockouts) has sold out Madison Square Garden, the Forum and London’s O2 Arena in his last three bouts.
A boxing official unauthorized to comment on financial figures of Golovkin’s Sept. 10 fifth-round technical-knockout triumph over Kell Brook said that bout generated more than 500,000 buys in the U.K.
“A flat fee for a fight is usually given to a fighter or contender who’s clearly the ‘B’ side,” Loeffler told The Times. “My offer back to [Golden Boy] was based on a percentage, just like we saw in the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao agreement.”
There’s no rush to strike a deal. Alvarez fractured his right thumb while winning the World Boxing Organization junior-middleweight bout on Saturday and won’t fight again this calendar year.
Still, he could fight twice more before September, according to Golden Boy Promotions President Eric Gomez.
Golovkin, meanwhile, is in the process of moving his next bout from late November into Alvarez’s planned Dec. 10 spot at Madison Square Garden, with Loeffler currently negotiating with Al Haymon, the powerful manager of Golovkin’s World Boxing Assn. co-champion Daniel Jacobs of Brooklyn.
Although Jacobs first aimed to fight at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, he’s said to be receptive to the idea of moving to Manhattan.
Loeffler said talks with Haymon have been “cordial,” after earlier this year striking a deal for Golovkin to fight Haymon fighter Dominic Wade.
Golovkin has an exclusive contract with HBO, but if Loeffler and Haymon can’t agree on financial terms, there’s the possibility the bout would be settled by a purse bid, which would give the winning side the power to decide where and when to place the bout.
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