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GGG: Canelo Is “Just Scared”
By: Sean Crose
According to the highly regarded Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, middleweight terror Gennady Golovkin had some choice words for one Saul “Canelo” Alvarez recently. While fans want the two men to meet ASAP, Golovkin made it clear that he doesn’t think Canelo wants to step into the ring with him anytime soon. Why? Because Golovkin feels the red headed star is simply afraid. “Everybody wants to watch this fight,” Golovkin is quoted as saying. “He’s just scared.” Canelo’s reputation has already taken a hit due to the fact that he gave up his WBC middleweight title before defending it against Golovkin. Such talk from the generally mild mannered “GGG” clearly isn’t going to help matters for the PR department of Golden Boy, Canelo’s promoter.
“He’s fighting small guys,” Golovkin went on to say. “No one with a true big punch.”
Liam Smith, Canelo’s next opponent may beg to differ, but Golovkin supporters love to bring up the fact that Canelo, who won the lineal middleweight crown from veteran star Miguel Cotto last year, is moving down to junior middleweight in order to face Smith in Dallas later this month. Indeed, it’s now clear that Golovkin no longer thinks highly of Canelo, who once had a reputation as a take on all comers fighter. While word has made the rounds that the Mexican star will face Golovkin next year, Golovkin is no longer buying it.
Pugmire makes it clear in his piece that Golovkin believes Canelo will probably wait a full thirty-six months before agreeing to the fight. Sure enough, talk of a bout next September doesn’t seem to be anything more than talk to the Kazakh knockout artist. “He’s saying,” Golovkin claimed, “September’s the best date. Maybe he’ll fight Margarito, maybe Pacquiao or blah, blah, blah before then.” Fans who have felt Golovkin needed to be more vocal in calling out Canelo can no longer claim GGG is taking it easy on his potential opponent.
“He’s not serious.” Golovkin said. “Everybody understands it. People understand that G’s ready and Canelo’s not.” The undefeated mutli-belt holder also stated that Canelo and the gang at Golden Boy would engage in some sleight of hand by offering GGG virtual peanuts for a match before stepping away to claim they tried their best to make the fight happen. “It’s a 50-50 fight,” Golovkin claimed in Pugmire’s article, “but that’s what he’s going to do. It’s a game to him.”
Harsh words indeed. Whether they goad team Canelo into fighting Golovkin sooner rather than later remains to be seen. Golovkin made an interesting point in Pugmire’s piece when he indicated that Canelo is Golden Boy’s feature attraction and that a beat down at his (GGGs) gloved hands would be bad for business. Still, Canelo appears to have a strong, though perhaps diminished, fan base. And that base could well decide if and when a bout with Golovkin occurs. Canelo has long argued he’s not at all afraid of Golovkin. Whether or not his fans, especially the paying ones, believe him may make all the difference.
As for Golovkin, he’s set to face IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook in a huge fight in Britain next month.
