Gotta catch 'em all.
Gennady Golovkin's quest to unify the middleweight titles, fruitless as it may seem due to a new one cropping up every twenty minutes, has led him to newly-minted WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders, who took the belt from Andy Lee less than two weeks ago. Golovkin's promoter, Tom Loeffler, has reached out to Saunders' camp in an attempt to put the fight together.
Per ESPN:
"We made a significant offer to Frank Warren as it is still GGG's priority to unify all the middleweight titles," Loeffler told ESPN.com. "The unification fight with Billy Joe Saunders would be at the top of the list for the next fight. They are interested but no response yet."
...
"We have been in communication with Gennady Golovkin's people, who have approached us with a firm offer of a unification fight with Triple G," Warren said. "I know Billy Joe has intimated he may not be quite ready for this, but money talks louder than anything in boxing and such are the sums involved it is one certainly worth considering.
"We will be sitting down to talk about the future with Billy Joe once he has enjoyed his break. He has some really tasty options out there, and whatever happens we will come up with something really special."
This fight would presumably bridge the gap between now and Golovkin's megafight with "Canelo" Alvarez in September. It really shows just how confident Golovkin and his camp are in "GGG's" skills that they'd risk a career-high payday to face a legit world champion.
Golovkin (34-0, 31 KO) spent 2015 the way he spends most years: beating really good fighters senseless. The last ten months saw him smash Martin Murray, Willie Monroe, Jr., and David Lemieux, the last of whom held the IBF title before his fall to Golovkin. His knockout streak currently sits at twenty-one and dates back to June of 2008.
Saunders (23-0, 12 KO), earned his first world title earlier this month in one of the year's worst fights, dropping Andy Lee twice in the third before the fight devolved into mutual sleepwalking. He'd previously knocked out the criminally-overmatched Yoann Bloyer, who was 17-27-2 at the time, in July and edged domestic rival Chris Eubank, Jr. in November of 2014.
Skilled as he is, Saunders ostensibly doesn't pose a threat to Golovkin, but then again, who does? Could be interesting, at least.