With few attractive alternatives at middleweight, Gennady Golovkin would love to move down to 154 pounds to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Golovkin realizes he won?t get a crack at Canelo Alvarez or Miguel Cotto until sometime next year at the earliest, because Alvarez and Cotto likely will fight each other in the fall if Cotto wins against Australia?s Daniel Geale on June 6 at Barclays Center. The Kazakh knockout artist also knows he?d make more money for facing Mayweather than he made combined for the eight knockout wins HBO has televised since September 2012.
You can?t blame Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) for calling out Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) in his pursuit of a career-defining fight.
You also can?t blame Mayweather for ignoring Golovkin?s challenge.
Golovkin is too big for Mayweather. Even at 154 pounds, it?s unreasonable to demand that Mayweather fight him.
He stands only 2 inches taller than Mayweather ? the same height advantage Mayweather had over Manny Pacquiao on May 2 in Las Vegas. But Golovkin is a career middleweight who has never weighed in at less than 158 1/2 pounds for a professional fight.
Assuming Golovkin could get down to 154, he still would outweigh Mayweather by about 15 pounds by the time they entered the ring.
Mayweather has competed three times as a junior middleweight, but weighed in below the 154-pound limit for his wins against Oscar De La Hoya (150), Cotto (151) and Alvarez (150 1/2). The contracted catch weight for the Mayweather-Alvarez fight was 152 pounds, but it?s also unreasonable to ask Golovkin to get lower than 154.
Mayweather haters want nothing more than to see boxing?s pound-for-pound king get knocked out before he retires. They?ll tell you Mayweather would fight Golovkin if he truly believes he is TBE ? The Best Ever ? as Mayweather claims.
But after finally fighting Pacquiao and dominating him, Mayweather doesn?t owe anyone anything. Frustrated fans were correct to demand Mayweather-Pacquiao all along, because they?re both welterweights and there wasn?t a legitimate obstacle that should?ve prevented them from fighting.
That rationale doesn?t apply to Mayweather-Golovkin, especially since Mayweather would make a lot less money for facing a bigger, younger fighter who?s one of boxing?s most dangerous punchers. And if Mayweather won, his critics would contend he defeated a drained opponent who had built his padded record against a forgettable group of overmatched middleweights.
The risk, just like Golovkin, is simply too big ? much bigger than the reward.
Twitter: @Idecboxing
