According to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, the trilogy bout between Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin will happen, even if it has to occur without fans in the arena.
“Safety is first,” De La Hoya said in a video on Yahoo Sports when asked about when he plans on staging the third Alvarez vs. Golovkin fight. “We still have to figure out how to make this work because Canelo is the biggest attraction in boxing.”
Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) and Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) reportedly had an agreement to fight in September before the coronavirus outbreak halted sports in the U.S., but there are a few obstacles that still remain. Golovkin’s trainer, Johnathon Banks, said Golovkin wants to fight his IBF mandatory challenger, Kamil Szeremeta, instead, and then take a warm-up fight to prepare for Alvarez, which would push the trilogy match into 2021. That doesn't bode well for Golovkin, who will turn 39 in April 2021.
“Canelo-GGG has to happen,” De La Hoya said. “DAZN wants it, (Golden Boy wants) it, Canelo wants it and GGG wants it. It has to happen. That has to be the first or next biggest major mega-fight for boxing. That’s how boxing makes a statement.”
Asked whether they would consider holding the fight without fans, De La Hoya said it’s a possibility, though they’d have to figure out the logistics.
The gate for Canelo vs. GGG 2 pulled in $23,473,500 in September 2018. The money made from ticket sales could be even higher in the third fight. That would be a lot to give up, but stranger things have happened in 2020.
“I believe we can do it without fans,” De La Hoya said. “But Canelo’s a superstar, he’s going to want to have a packed arena. ... We have to put our minds together, because there’s a lot of money involved with the gate. Imagine a fight of that magnitude with no fans; we’ve never done this ever in our lives, so we have to figure this out.”