By Norm Frauenheim-
CARSON, Calif. — Going the distance with Gennady Golovkin is a dead end.
That, at least, is big part of the sales pitch for GGG’s starring role in a Cinco De Mayo bout that is still an annual rite despite Canelo Alvarez’ withdrawal and subsequent six-month suspension for two positive PED tests in February.
The Fiesta has moved west, from Las Vegas to StubHub Center at Carson, Calif. The opponent has changed too, Vanes Martiroysan instead of Canelo. But, make no mistake, the story is about GGG, who is a little bit older and angrier than the friendly face who once was known for saying “Big Drama Show.’’
The GGG smile is still there. But mention Canelo and a grin once considered cute suddenly looks menacing. He has no patience for the rival middleweight. He doesn’t believe Canelo when he says he tested positive for Clenbuterol because of eating meat the Mexican says he didn’t know was tainted with the banned substance.
Inevitably, the Canelo question has been asked. There really is no other question, at least not in the two-and-half weeks promoters had to stage the HBO bout at a new location and against a different opponent. Time has been a challenge, also the biggest one of all for GGG, a fighter entering middle age and furiously pursuing a legacy. In Canelo, perhaps, he sees a fighter who has stood in his way, first with judging that he called “terrible” in a Las Vegas draw last September and now with a PED suspension.
There are moments when GGG’s frustration flares. These days, it’s as if it is always there, a little bit like that grin was. And, for the most part, still is. Hard to blame him. He’s 36, an age when most fighters are beginning to exit their prime. He doesn’t want to be kept waiting for any reason. He can’t afford it. Finances are just one factor.
According to multiple sources, he is guaranteed close to $3 million for Martirosyan, a capable junior middleweight who is moving up to 160 pounds after a couple of years of inactivity. That’s a fraction of the $15 million GGG reportedly got for last September’s draw. There were reports he could have collected $20 million for a rematch originally scheduled for Saturday. Now, there’s talk that the Canelo rematch will happen on September 15.
But most of that talk is coming from Canelo’s Golden Boy promoters. GGG continues to throw cold water on the possibility. He did so again this week when he told Yahoo there was only a 10 percent chance the rematch will happen. Guess here: He’s already negotiating. He wants to make Canelo pay, both financially and in the ring.
In the ring, at least, the rematch has emerged as the one fight fans want to see, in part because GGG seems to be saying that he intends to punish Canelo in what would be defining moment for the Kazak.
That brings us back to what GGG promoter Tom Loeffler and trainer Abel Sanchez have been saying about him.
“Once you go twelve rounds with Golovkin, you are never going to be the same,’’ Sanchez said Monday during an international conference call.
It was a comment that Sanchez made when asked about Danny Jacobs, who won a decision over Polish middleweight Maciej Sulecki in Brooklyn last Saturday. Jacobs is 2-0 since losing a 12-round unanimous decision to GGG in March 2017. Sanchez said he has seen a decline in Jacobs since the 12-round battle with GGG.
“It’s not only Jacobs,’’ Sanchez said. “If you go back to (David) Lemieux, to (Curtis) Stevens, to (Dominic) Wade, to Willie Monroe, they are never the same. (Martin) Murray, also. They are never the same after they go rounds with Gennady.’’
The danger in all of this, however, is that GGG often looks as is if he’s not exactly who he was anymore, either. He took a lot of punches against Jacobs in a bout that some thought Jacobs won. Bruising, often an early symptom of aging in a fighter, has been evident.
Against Martirosyan, GGG is expected to win easily. But Martirosyan, who fought at the 2004 Olympics when GGG won a silver medal, is clever. He knows his way around the ring. He might not win, which is another way of saying he doesn’t have much to lose.
Going the distance against GGG would be victory for Martirosyan. But don’t expect it, not in a bout that looks a lot like the first step in his angry plan to add Canelo to a Sanchez list that already includes Jacobs, Lemieux, Stevens, Wade, Monroe and Murray.
