Canelo Alvarez & Gennady Golovkin: The Fight that Depends on Business!

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 48-1-1, 34 KO’s is arguably the money maker in the boxing world as we start 2017, he has a large and loyal following and in the aftermath of the Floyd Mayweather, JR. era he is a drastically contrasting character who seems more grounded and relatable to many. Alvarez is a fighter who I have some confusion over however, not too long ago Canelo seemed to be wanting to cement his legacy by pushing himself and working for the fights to happen without the circus that seems to swallow up other big fights. I was a staunch supporter of Alvarez, I saw a young talented fighter who was a breath of fresh air to the sport, approachable and hard working with a long career at the top laid out before him.

No matter what anyone thinks of Canelo no one could argue the fact that he is a powerful and skilled fighter who can be explosive and exciting, a fighter who’s softly spoken and carries a friendly persona when he steps into the ring as something else entirely. Once between the ropes we see a methodical fighter who comes forward and muscles his opponents into position before unloading shots that have seen many respected fighters touch the canvas. He is also open to certain shots due to his come forward approach which adds an element of excitement to his in-ring appearances.

The Khan fight is a prime example of this, a fight I couldn’t truly understand the reasoning behind and seemed like boxing suicide for the susceptible Khan ended up being an interesting and surprisingly competitive fight at times. Canelo coming forward was in my opinion frustrated by the speed and snap of Khan’s punches and even frustrated by the way Amir seemed to be one step out of reach for much of the fight. Many had Alvarez down on the scorecards by the time the crunching end came by way of a precise and powerful shot that would render most fighter’s unconscious.

Still Khan gave a good account of himself and showed that Canelo can be held at bay with a slick style. Canelo is beatable which makes him entertaining and makes me and others want to tune in as he seemed to be a fighter willing to take the risks. However, that has changed and so has the opinion of him as a fighter in the eyes of many. Fighting now in what is jokingly referred to as “Caneloweight” and seemingly choosing when he can and cannot make weights he is to many boxing fans becoming another poster boy and money making figure head. This is probably not what Canelo wants from his career and I believe like all fighters he should never be called “coward”, “bum” or the popular tag “ducker”.

The problem is that boxing is far more than the 12 rounds we see in the ring, it is like all businesses driven by money and steered by people behind desks that simply see investment and profit. All those in the world who invest time and money into a profitable product love the rewards and hate the risks, and that is what Alvarez is in some respects a product, he is a brand and a very profitable one at that, a brand that is tied to a contract with less input into his career path than some may think. While money rolls in with lower risks involved the powers that be will use spin and promises to dictate where a brand, which in this case is a fighter, will go. To those that hold the reigns there is another issue in the boxing world that could tarnish the Midas touch they have with Alvarez and that issue comes in the form of another softly spoken fighter who despite his friendly demeanour is in fact a dangerous and focused opponent, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, 36-0, 33 KO’s the KO king of boxing at the moment.

Golovkin is a shadow looming over Canelo, a fighter who is difficult to market due to his relaxed and softly spoken manner. A fighter who has left 33 of his opponents in a painful heap before long before the final bell tolls. In a manner, not too different than Alvarez he has recently fought a fighter who had moved up to face the beast from the east. Kell Brook shocked the boxing world when he announced a jump up of two weights to fight Golovkin in a match that many saw as one sided. Again, the smaller fighter, out of his comfort zone like Khan gave an excellent account of himself and showed the chinks in “GGG’s” armour, the uppercut seemed to be a workable way of connecting with Golovkin but in the end a broken orbital bone and a thrown towel ended the fight with the powerful “GGG” raising his hands in victory.

“GGG” and Canelo are both strong and explosive fighters with calm personas outside of the ring. They both seem appreciative of their fans and the opportunities they have in carving out their place in the sport. This I believe is the biggest problem in having these two meet, on one hand we have Alvarez a huge name in the sport backed by one of the most successful promotional teams in the sport today, making bank balances grow and carrying a large and loyal army of fans who make up a large section of boxings demographic, he has an entire country cheering him on and tuning in no matter who he fights.

On the other hand, we have Golovkin, a menacing fighter who stalks his opponents around the ring, cutting off their escape like the shark from Jaws and then much like the titular great white leaves a trail of bodies behind him. Golovkin however is far from the money earner that Canelo is, many boxing fans who are less invested than some of us would not know who he was if he knocked on their door and asked to borrow a cup of sugar. Though loyal “GGG’s” fans are in no way the army of followers that Canelo leads which ultimately means that the fight is a harder sell to the public, and brings to light the adage of “High risk, low reward”.

Gennady simply does not have the power team behind him or the personality to force the fights he wants to happen, and on the other side Canelo has all the power and influence a fighter could need and the business savvy of De La Hoya to guide him to a bigger bank balance and an even bigger one for Golden Boy. However, in his role as boxings main man Canelo has become a product that is stuck on a path set out by his team, fighting at catchweights, becoming a poster boy for one of the most influential promotional companies and unable to dictate what he wants has left him with little control and few options. If “GGG” were to step in with Alvarez and end his run at the top, then where does Canelo go. He is not actually fighting within a real division due to the catchweight situation, he stops being the A side and is left somewhat in the desert as far as options go and every path back to the top is a difficult one to take. This in turn leaves Golden Boy without the biggest name and the governing bodies and all those involved behind the scenes with “GGG” who we all know is an excellent fighter but he is harder to promote than perhaps any other fighter out there with the exception of  Guillermo Rigondeaux, 17-0, 11 KO’s .

If Alvarez were to win it would achieve little in the eyes of the more casual fan who are not aware of the threat “GGG” presents, the build-up would rest entirely on the shoulders of Golden Boy and Canelo who is hardly the hype builder that the Mayweather’s and Tyson Fury’s of the sport are. At the minute the interest for this matchup is amongst the more hardcore fans who know the fight would be explosive but sadly the hardcore of the boxing world do not generate the revenue that the men and women sat in board rooms and run the arena’s, networks and even the sanctioning bodies want to see.

We see the fighters name drop and promise the matchup is coming but until the zeros add up I think we will be left waiting and divided by these two fighters. I honestly believe that both boxers want to be the best and fight the best, that they want to step between the ropes and go down in history as the fighter who faced the elite and had their hand raised in glory. I do not think any fighter is a ducker as that attitude would have stopped them climbing into the ring as youngsters and wouldn’t drive them through camps and the lonely, painful life of a boxer.

We may not like to say it but at the highest level of this sport money and marketing are the fuel and engine which drives it forward and the fights must feed that engine for them to be made. We as fans have questions to be answered regarding why these two elite fighters have yet to meet but the answers lie in the hands of board members and businessmen who will only give us what we want when it is a viable reality.

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