BoxRec

Former unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin's ring return is close to being finalized with the fight ticketed for June 8 at Madison Square Garden in New York, sources with knowledge of the plans told ESPN.



The opponent is not set yet but offers have been made to potential opponents -- unbeaten Steve Rolls and former middleweight world titlist Hassan N'Dam, sources told ESPN.

Golovkin plans to fight at approximately 164 pounds, four over the middleweight division limit for the nontitle bout, one of the sources said.

ESPN.

Anyone seen Steve Rolls?

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑08 Apr 2019, 14:16 Anyone seen Steve Rolls?

I saw him fighting Steed Woodall years ago, he scored come from behind KTFO ...he was down too in that fight. But at least he is undefeated, if GGG wanna get ring rust off him, why not. Hopefully Rolls will get out from ring alive.

I can't believe that GGG is 37 y/o now. Where does the time go? N'Dam still thinks he can make fight night.

lolrolls

If anyone has missed in the OP. GGG looking for a catchweight of 164. We know he has no issues making 160.. maybe it’s his way of a transition into 168? But it Canelo holds all the MW titles, it would be a bigger bout there.

Canelo said he have a third fight if GGG can win s belt. But Canelo could potentially unify by end of the year fighting Jacobs and Andrade.

Andrade ain’t fighting GGG in June, so he’ll likely retain his belt.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑09 Apr 2019, 17:57 Canelo said he have a third fight if GGG can win s belt. But Canelo could potentially unify by end of the year fighting Jacobs and Andrade.

Andrade ain’t fighting GGG in June, so he’ll likely retain his belt.

GGG best be getting busy. He's at an age where getting old can suddenly happen any given fight.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑09 Apr 2019, 17:57 Canelo said he have a third fight if GGG can win s belt. But Canelo could potentially unify by end of the year fighting Jacobs and Andrade.

Andrade ain’t fighting GGG in June, so he’ll likely retain his belt.

I am not interested seeing a rematch. In the first fight Golovkin had a wide win, in the second - narrower win. He is getting older, so I doubt he can do better in the third.

According to reports released today, Canelo has said that he is only willing to face GGG for a third time this year, as long as the Kazakhstani gains ownership of another a world title.

Canelo’s primary objective is to become the undisputed middleweight champion of the world before the end of the current calendar year, which means he’ll be seeking to add the WBO title to his collection (as long as he emerges victorious against Danny Jacobs).

So it seems that Canelo is forcing a bout between Demetrius Andrade and Gennady Golovkin, which should be a very easy fight to make, because:

• Demetrius Andrade and Gennady Golovkin are both scheduled to compete within a few weeks of each other during the month on June
• They both have exclusive ties with DAZN
• Both fighters don’t have opponent for their June fight-date yet
• Demetrius Andrade is the WBO world middleweight champion and GGG is the WBO’s highest-rated contender

Canelo did say that he’d be open to facing Golovkin again even if GGG didn’t hold a world title, but in this scenario, their third bout wouldn’t happen until 2020, which is when the Kazakhstani will be 38 years of age.

Therefore, it’s in GGG’s own best interests to face Demetrius Andrade rather than engaging in stay-busy mismatches against the likes of: Steve Rolls, Hassan N'Dam, Kamil Szeremeta or Brandon Adams.

Just seems most likely that Golovkin faces a low level opponent like Rolls in June, and Andrade does the same.

Andrade then meets Canelo in September for the undisputed title.

Canelo and Golovkin don't meet until May or September 2020.

With a more lucrative Canelo bout this September, it wouldn't make any sense for Andrade to risk it by fighting Golovkin in about 2 month.

And its clear by the rumored list of possible opponents that no one is looking to place Golovkin in any realistic jeopardy in his first DAZN bout.

SenorPipino wrote: ↑10 Apr 2019, 07:28 Just seems most likely that Golovkin faces a low level opponent like Rolls in June, and Andrade does the same.

Andrade then meets Canelo in September for the undisputed title.

Canelo and Golovkin don't meet until May or September 2020.

With a more lucrative Canelo bout this September, it wouldn't make any sense for Andrade to risk it by fighting Golovkin in about 2 month.

And its clear by the rumored list of possible opponents that no one is looking to place Golovkin in any realistic jeopardy in his first DAZN bout.

I totally agree with your perception on how the situation will very likely unfold.

However, this could result in a far less favourable outcome for GGG, because:

• He’ll lose credibility and undermine his own fearsome reputation if he chooses to engage in “safe” stay-busy mismatches against vastly inferior opposition, whilst waiting for his highly-lucrative 2020 Canelo rematch
• A 38-year-old past-his-prime version of Golovkin could potentially lose the third bout of the Canelo trilogy rather badly if it’s staged in another twelve to eighteen months

If GGG was more interested in sporting accomplishment rather than maximising his own net worth, then Golovkin should be doing his upmost to capture the WBO title as soon as possible in order to face Canelo later on this year (as this will give him the best chance of winning the third bout).

Time clearly isn't on Gennady's side, because Canelo is on the acsendancy, whereas GGG is on the decline.

According to recent media reports, the WBA's 168lbs mandatory challenger, John Ryder, has been added to the shortlist of opponents to face Gennady Golovkin in June.

For the record, John Ryder isn’t considered as being a top-ten world-rated 168lb-er by the likes of: TBRB, The RING or ESPN.

Boxing Monthly considers John Ryder in 5th place of the British 168lbs rankings. He’s only rated in 11th place for Europe (as per the EBU).

Within the last couple of weeks, GGG's name has been linked to the likes of: Steve Rolls, Hassan N'Dam, Kamil Szeremeta, Brandon Adams and John Ryder.

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑10 Apr 2019, 09:34 According to recent media reports, the WBA's 168lbs mandatory challenger, John Ryder, has been added to the shortlist of opponents to face Gennady Golovkin in June.

For the record, John Ryder isn’t considered as being a top-ten world-rated 168lb-er by the likes of: TBRB, The RING or ESPN.

Boxing Monthly considers John Ryder in 5th place of the British 168lbs rankings. He’s only rated in 11th place for Europe (as per the EBU).

Within the last couple of weeks, GGG's name has been linked to the likes of: Steve Rolls, Hassan N'Dam, Kamil Szeremeta, Brandon Adams and John Ryder.

Ryder is fighting in May? No?

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑10 Apr 2019, 10:00 Ryder is fighting in May? No?

I don't know. BoxRec doesn't mention his bout in May.

A day or so ago there were media reports about David Lemieux potentially facing John Ryder on the Canelo-Jacobs undercard on May 4th. This doesn't appear to be confirmed yet.

Ryder vs Lemieux is on:
https://www.skysports.com/boxing/news/1 ... terim-belt

Lemieux was a better MW than Ryder and I expect him to win at SMW.

ndam wouldnt be an awful opponent really, hes a long time contender with some decent wins

the other names are pretty much trash then, as per many of ggs opponents

jamamb wrote: ↑10 Apr 2019, 13:07 ndam wouldnt be an awful opponent really, hes a long time contender with some decent wins

the other names are pretty much trash then, as per many of ggs opponents

Exactly!! He’s definately better than Vanes.

And a natural MW

We’re only seven weeks away from the heavily-rumoured June 8th fight-date and GGG hasn’t named his next opponent yet.

We need to bear in mind the fact the media announced the terms of GGG’s deal with DAZN eleven weeks ago, which included him being obliged to compete in June.

Golovkin’s contract with DAZN was then officially announced almost six weeks ago, with June 8th being named as the date of Gennady’s next fight (as confirmed by Forbes).

The last time GGG Promotions solely promoted one of Gennady’s bouts, it took Tom Loeffler more than nine weeks to arrange for a replacement for Canelo, which resulted in the utterly disgraceful Golovkin-Martirosyan mismatch.

I reckon that the June 8th fight-date will either be postponed or Golovkin will engage in another Martirosyan-style mismatch.

I’m not sure if the cause of this dire situation is a result of Tom Loeffler’s incompetence, which is a repeat of the Martirosyan farce, but Gennady himself is ultimately responsible for this, since he owns GGG Promotions.

I refuse to believe that “everyone is ducking GGG”, because as per the Martirosyan debacle, GGG Promotions has made no attempt to contact any of Golovkin’s big-name peers.

It's a whole new ballgame for boxing's pound-for-pound superstar attraction GENNADY "GGG" GOLOVKIN! Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs), from Karaganda, Kazakhstan, brings his Big Drama Show back to the "Mecca of Boxing" -- Madison Square Garden for the first time in over two years in his eagerly-awaited DAZN debut on Saturday, June 8.

Golovkin, whose resume includes a record 20 consecutive middleweight title defenses (18 by way of knockout), has consistently drawn packed houses to the five previous events he has headlined at The Garden, dating back to 2013. He will rumble with undefeated Top-10 contender and Kronk Gym alumnus STEVE ROLLS (19-0, 10 KOs), from Toronto, Canada, in a battle, scheduled for 12 rounds, at a maximum weight of 164 lbs. Golovkin vs. Rolls kicks off the exclusive six-fight, three-year global partnership between GGG Promotions and DAZN, the world's fastest-growing sports streaming platform.

A two-city press tour, featuring both fighters, will take place next week, starting at Madison Square Garden on Monday, April 22, and concluding in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 23. Details on those events will be forthcoming.

Promoted by GGG Promotions, in association with DiBella Entertainment, tickets to The Big Apple battle between Golovkin and Rolls go on sale This Saturday, April 20, at Noon ET. Priced at $750, $500, $300, $200, $100, and $50, not including fees, tickets may be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008), and online at www.ticketmaster.com and www.msg.com.

Notably, this will be the second of two major boxing events The Garden will host on back-to-back boxing weekends – both of which will be live exclusively on DAZN. England's Anthony Joshua will make his United States and Madison Square Garden debut in a defense of his unified heavyweight title against Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller on June 1, just one week before Golovkin’s highly anticipated return on June 8.

Rolls, 35, making his debut at The Garden, will be looking to ice Golovkin with his version of a Canadian cold front. In his most recent fight, he won the vacant USBA middleweight title last December, via unanimous decision, over KeAndrae Leatherwood. World-rated No. 9 rated by the IBF, Rolls has stopped four of his last seven opponents while keeping his record perfect.

This is an absolute nonsense fight

Gennady Golovkin previously declined catchweight stipulations to compete against high-profile names that were either physically smaller or bigger than himself. He even mocked other fighters for agreeing to compete using catchweights, saying that they were "business" fights.

GGG’s bout against the utterly "marvellous" and "fearsome" Steve Rolls is being competed at a 164lbs catchweight.

I’m not being facetious, but a lot of people from this forum passionately defended Golovkin’s “honour” for declining and mocking catchweights. However, now he’s choosing to use one for the mismatch he’s participating in!

Talk about double-standards!

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑17 Apr 2019, 05:17 Gennady Golovkin previously declined catchweight stipulations to compete against high-profile names that were either physically smaller or bigger than himself. He even mocked other fighters for agreeing to compete using catchweights, saying that they were "business" fights.

GGG’s bout against the utterly "marvellous" and "fearsome" Steve Rolls is being competed at a 164lbs catchweight.

I’m not being facetious, but a lot of people from this forum passionately defended Golovkin’s “honour” for declining and mocking catchweights. However, now he’s choosing to use one for the mismatch he’s participating in!

Talk about double-standards!

To be fair, this is a non title fight. Any of his previous Middleweight title defences he wanted at the 160 limit.

Again, I don’t know him personally, neither do you, but all we can do is speculate.