Will Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez ever happen? Retired former middleweight boxing champion Sergio Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) doesn't believe it will, at least not this decade.
In an interview with FightHub (video at the top of the page), the 41-year-old Argentine was asked about Canelo voluntarily losing his middleweight championship, which led to an answer about whether or not Canelo would ever fight Golovkin.
"I don't know why he [vacated the title]," Martinez said. "But I can tell you that the fight will never happen. For the very least it won't happen in the next 4-5 years. It won't happen because it's not convenient for Golden Boy."
After Canelo had KO'd Amir Khan in May, the Mexican star and Golden Boy Promotions were given 15 days to hammer out a deal to fight Golovkin, otherwise Canelo would be stripped of his title and GGG would be promoted to full champion. Canelo vacated the belt, with Oscar De La Hoya stating that they "won't negotiate under a forced deadline."
While this situation has been construed by fans as Canelo being scared to fight Golovkin, Martinez believes that it's not so much a case of fighters "ducking" certain opponents, as much as it is promoters protecting their highly valuable talents.
"I feel boxers do want to fight each other," Martinez said. "But what happens is promoters want to protect their boxers, and that's logical. It seems logical to me."
GGG vs. Canelo is "verbally agreed" for the fall of 2017, with both men taking multiple bouts against other opposition in the interim. Canelo Alvarez will fight Liam Smith for Smith's 154 lbs title on September 17th on HBO PPV, while Gennady Golovkin, possessor of the WBC, IBF, and WBA 160 lbs belts, is nearing a lucrative bout in the UK against Chris Eubank Jr. Unlike Canelo-Smith, GGG-Eubank Jr. has yet to be finalized.
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