By Keith Idec

Gennadiy Golovkin is holding his ground on not fighting Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas again.

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported Thursday morning that negotiations for their third fight have stalled largely due to Golovkin’s reluctance to face Alvarez in Las Vegas for a third time. The former middleweight champion made it clear in the aftermath of his fourth-round knockout of Steve Rolls on June 8 that he wants their third fight to take place elsewhere.

According to Mannix, also a commentator for DAZN, promoter Oscar De La Hoya will start looking at other opponents for Alvarez’s next fight if they can’t come to a resolution by Friday. Mexico’s Alvarez, the IBF/WBA/WBC middleweight champion, is scheduled to return to the ring September 14.

John Skipper, DAZN’s executive chairman, is pushing for a third bout between Alvarez and Golovkin to happen next because the streaming service has committed nine-figure contracts to both boxers and needs their third fight to generate subscriptions.

Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) and Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) battled to a dubious draw in their first 12-round fight in September 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Judge Adalaide Byrd infamously scored that bout 118-110 for Alvarez, despite that Golovkin seemingly did enough to win it.

In their 12-round rematch last September 15, Alvarez dealt Golovkin the first defeat of his career.

Alvarez was more aggressive in their second meeting and won that bout by majority decision. Their rematch was more competitive than their first fight, but Golovkin still feels Alvarez was afforded preferential treatment by the judges.

The Kazakhstan native wants their rematch to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York, where Golovkin and Alvarez have fought over the past six months, or the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“I want [the fight at MSG],” Golovkin said after defeating Rolls. “It’s different people, different atmosphere.”

Golovkin, 37, has fought at Madison Square Garden four times and The Theater at Madison Square Garden twice. He has fought in Las Vegas just twice, both times versus Alvarez.

“It’s not like in principle I don’t like to go to Vegas,” Golovkin said. “But I have some bad feelings about Vegas.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.