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By: Hans Themistode
With Canelo Alvarez officially returning to the ring On December 19th, against WBC super-middleweight belt holder Callum Smith, it appears that a familiar face will align himself with a close date as well.
According to reports, former unified middleweight champion and current IBF titlist Gennadiy Golovkin, is working on making his return to the ring on December 18th, one day before Alvarez. His opponent on the night would be the undefeated Kamil Szeremeta.
A contest between the two was thought to take place several months, however, due to a calf injury and the ongoing concerns surrounding COVID-19, their bout has taken a backseat. Now though, it appears that they are back on track. A location hasn’t been set in stone just yet but sources familiar with the situation believe that Florida or Texas, where fans have been allowed into boxing venues, would be the likely play.
The thought process behind scheduling Golovkin near the end of the year not only stems from his injury woes and lack of a fight date this year, but also because the streaming service DAZN is eyeing a trilogy bout between the pair for May of 2021.
Both Golovkin and Alvarez share a long history with one another. After spending years calling for a showdown with the Mexican native, Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) got his wish in September of 2017. Following 12 rounds of nonstop action, a crowd of 17,318 was incredulous as a majority decision was announced. Having believed he did more than enough to score the victory, Golovkin lobbied for an immediate rematch and was rewarded with one nine months later.
Unfortunately for the long reigning champion however, he would be forced to wait an additional four months as Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) was given a six month suspension for testing positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol.
Going into their rematch in September of 2018, Golovkin was seen as a slight favorite to continue his middleweight reign which was one win shy of breaking the all-time title defense record.
Despite that, the Kazakhstan product would fall short on the cards, losing via majority decision. Since then, he has implemented several changes including axing his former head trainer Abel Sanchez and bringing in previous head man of long time heavyweight titlist Wladimir Klitschko, Johnathon Banks. Their new partnership has worked out fairly well as Golovkin has won back to back contest including a razor-close decision against Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
As for Alvarez, he’s spent the better part of two years jumping from weight class to weight class and piling up the world titles.
In December of 2018, the pound for pound star made quick work of WBA regular super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding, stopping him in the third round. He would then move back down to the middleweight division five months later to unify titles with Daniel Jacobs. Six months following his win, Alvarez would jump up two weight classes to become the fourth Mexican born fighter to win world titles in four separate weight classes when he scored an 11th round knockout over Sergey Kovalev.
Although Golovkin hasn’t expressed an interest in moving up to the super middleweight division, a weight class where Alvarez is currently campaigning, the Mexican star is said to be able to make the 160-pound limit given more time, according to his trainer Eddy Reynoso.
