Gennady Golovkin to decide on ESPN or DAZN by end of year

According to a report at ESPN, Gennady Golovkin’s options for a new TV partner have come down to two: ESPN and the streaming service DAZN, with GGG set to make a decision by the end of 2018.

From Tom Loeffler, Golovkin’s promoter:

“ESPN and DAZN are very interested in Gennady and in the running. Both have a big budget for GGG. ... Gennady will make a decision this year on the direction he wants to go in. I’m going to give him the pros and cons of each offer and he is the one who will make the final decision.”

Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KO) is still one of the top stars in the sport, coming off of a debated loss in September against Canelo Alvarez, who signed with DAZN for a huge money deal and will make his debut on that service on Dec. 15, moving up to super middleweight to fight Rocky Fielding.

An educated guess would say that DAZN is probably the favorite — they have a lot of money, and if GGG wants that third fight with Alvarez, which he surely does after feeling that he deserved to win both their Sept. 2017 draw and the loss a few months ago, then he kind of has to go with DAZN. Alvarez’s next 11 fights will be with DAZN, and Golovkin, at 36, doesn’t exactly have all the time in the world left in his career as a top fighter.

But maybe ESPN is going to back up the money truck and dump it on Golovkin’s doorstep. You never really know. DAZN would seem more likely, but ESPN is a big company making a sizable investment in boxing, and Golovkin would be a huge get for them.

We just have to wait and see how it plays out, but the good news is we’ll seemingly find out within the next few weeks.