Golovkin Has Options, Says K2: Geale, Macklin, Pirog Mentioned

WBA regular middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin has plenty of options going forward, says promoter Tom Loeffler of K2, who wasn't shy about mentioning specific names to Ryan Maquinana at BoxingScene.com.

Loeffler started with WBA super and IBF titleholder Daniel Geale, which would be about the best fight to make in the division at the moment:

"Right now we have the WBA sanction where (Golovkin) has to fight Daniel Geale by December 31st, so that’s the first order of business, to see if Geale will fight him. If not, we’ve made it clear to HBO that he’ll fight anyone at 160."

Also mentioned are Matthew Macklin, coming off of his first round TKO of Joachim Alcine; Dmitry Pirog, who was supposed to face Golovkin on September 1 but pulled out with injury; and even Andre Ward, the super middleweight champion, and someone Loeffler says Golovkin would jump at the opportunity to face.

We can probably count out Ward -- Golovkin just doesn't have that level of name right now, and is still very much a work in progress in star terms, needing more US exposure. Given his style, connections, that shouldn't be too hard to come by -- even though he drew a very low HBO rating against Grzegorz Proksa, there's basically no way that the HBO brass didn't expect that.

So let's talk about the other three.

Daniel Geale

Geale has earned his position as the world's No. 2 middleweight, behind only Sergio Martinez. But Geale is closer to the pack than he is to the top dog, which is not really meant as an insult; I only mean to say that Geale vs Golovkin would be a great fight. It's worth wondering if HBO would want the fight, but if they're now in the business of building fighters to challenge Martinez or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (whose impending suspension might keep him out a year, maybe less), then it's a worthwhile gamble, at least in terms of pure sport.

Matthew Macklin

Personally, this is a fight I'd love to see, as I think it could be a true tear-down brawl. An aggressive Macklin is really the best Macklin, and Golovkin's style would basically force Macklin to go all-out. Maybe that's bad for Macklin, but then again, it could mean Golovkin meets a true challenge for the first time as a pro. Either way, I think the matchup means fireworks.

Dmitry Pirog

I don't know. It's a good fight, don't get me wrong, but I think the other two are genuinely. It would definitely be nice to see Pirog finally take a risk.

Which of the three would you prefer?