Boxing News: K2 Promotions claim Golovkin fighting Canelo or Cotto in 2016 will be 'mega fight’ despite low PPV numbers
World Boxing Association, International Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Federation middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin is set to fight the winner of next month’s clash between World Boxing Council middleweight champ Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, which K2 Promotions managing director Tom Loeffler dubbed as a potential “mega fight” in the boxing world.
Golovkin’s promoter Loeffler is convinced “GGG” is more than lucrative enough for any potential bout in 2016 after the undefeated Kazakh had a successful pay-per-view debut by defeating David Lemieux via TKO in the eighth round. Loeffler claimed that it would be enticing for any fighters to go against Golovkin now that the Kazakh fighter has increased his superstar status.
“The winner of [Cotto-Canelo] fight will certainly jump to the top in terms of business,” Loeffler told Boxing Scene. “Fighting someone like Gennady will only be a bigger fight for the winner too.”
Loeffler seems confident that his prized fighter is certain to top the boxing world in terms of PPV draws. However, according to Tim Fletcher of Boxing News 24, the clash between Golovkin and Lemieux brought only a disappointing 125,000 PPV buys on HBO.
“What this means, of course, is that Golovkin does not have the fan following to be a PPV attraction for the time being,” Fletcher wrote. “If all Golovkin can do is bring in 125,000 PPV buys for a fight against Lemieux, then it suggests that HBO is going to need to back off from putting him in PPV fights in the future unless he’s facing a big star that can pro him up like Cotto or Canelo.”
Fletcher noted that the PPV numbers would not help Golovkin lure the winner of Cotto-Canelo bout, and could give other fighters all the more reason to avoid the power-punching Kazakh. Fletcher also added that Golovkin-Lemieux was a sick mismatch, although the Kazakh champ did well in his pre-sale record for his fight against the Canadian fighter at a sold-out Madison Square Garden.
The winner between Cotto and Canelo was mandated by WBC to defend the WBC middleweight title. Should Cotto or Canelo decide not to fight Golovkin and choose not to negotiate within 15 days, they will be stripped of the title belt. However, with Golovkin only generating low PPV numbers, Cotto and Canelo may have a strong reason not to fight the Kazakh.
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