May 10, 2016
LAS VEGAS (AP) The good news for boxing
fans is the fight they really want to see may actually happen before
they grow too old to enjoy it.
Even better news is that it has nothing to do with Floyd Mayweather Jr., or newly elected Filipino senator Manny Pacquiao.
Circle the date of Sept. 17, but don't plan
on buying tickets just yet. This is boxing, after all, and a ton of good
fights that should have happened never have.
Still, Canelo Alvarez says he wants it. Count Gennady Golovkin in, too.
Two big sluggers with one loss between them for all the middleweight titles they can bring to the ring.
''It's one of those fights we can make,''
said Tom Loeffler, who promotes Golovkin. ''Clearly it's the biggest
fight that can be made in boxing and it seems pretty clear Canelo wants
the fight.''
That was evident Saturday night when Alvarez
laid out Amir Khan with a vicious right hand, then used the same hand
to motion Golovkin, who was watching at ringside, to get in the ring
himself.
Another interested observer at ringside was
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who would like nothing better than to
steal a big fight from Vegas and fill his stadium for the biggest fight
since Mayweather and Pacquiao put on a snoozefest last May.
''I invited him personally,'' said Oscar De
La Hoya, who promotes Alvarez. ''That's how seriously he takes getting a
Canelo fight.''
Up until Alvarez landed the right hand that
flattened Khan and then called out Triple G it seemed like the fight was
not going to happen, at least anytime soon. Alvarez is De La Hoya's
biggest attraction, and the word among boxing insiders was that he
didn't want to risk him in a fight against Golovkin, who has walked
through everyone who has gotten in the ring with him.
There also was an issue with weight. Alvarez
holds a middleweight title, but fought at a catch weight of 155 pounds
against Khan. Golovkin says any title fight he has will be at the
160-pound middleweight limit.
But Alvarez and De La Hoya now say weight is
not an issue. And the invitation by Alvarez for Golovkin to join him in
the ring after the Khan fight dispelled any notion that he wasn't eager
to fight.
''I invited him because I'm not afraid,'' Alvarez said. ''And I wanted to prove to him I'm not afraid.''
De La Hoya reached out to Loeffler on
Sunday, and the two planned to begin negotiations Tuesday. Loeffler said
he and De La Hoya worked together for Golovkin's fight with David
Lemieux last October, and will have no issues working together for a
Sept. 17 fight.
Adding to the pressure to make the fight is
the mandate by the WBC that Alvarez come to an agreement to fight
Golovkin within 15 days of the Khan fight or he will be stripped of the
title.
''I'm pretty sure we can make a deal,''
Loeffler said. ''There was absolutely no reason for Canelo to invite
Gennady into the ring the other night unless he really wanted the
fight.''
The fight should prove attractive, even to
casual fans who felt burned by paying 0 to watch Mayweather and Pacquiao
in the richest fight ever. It won't do the record 4.6 million
pay-per-view buys that fight generated, but should do good enough
numbers to make both fighters millions.
Golovkin sold out Madison Square Garden for
Lemieux, and did the same at the Forum in Los Angeles last month for a
knockout of Dominic Wade. Alvarez, who is Mexico's biggest boxing star,
drew more than 30,000 fans to Minute Maid Park in Houston last year, and
nearly sold out the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for Khan.
Loeffler said the two together could draw
70,000 fans to Jones' stadium, or easily sell out in Vegas. De La Hoya
also mentioned Dodger Stadium as a possible site.
Both fighters are knockout artists, so there is little risk that the fight will be tough to watch like Mayweather-Pacquiao was.
''Everyone knows with Gennady's style and
Canelo's style people aren't going to be disappointed with the action in
the ring,'' Loeffler said. ''They are two machismo warriors.''
Indeed, it's a fight that sounds almost too good to be true. And, unlike Mayweather-Pacquiao it won't take five years go make.
Remember, though, it's still boxing. And that means don't count on it happening until the tickets actually go on sale.
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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist
for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or
http://twitter.com/timdahlberg
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