Vanes Martirosyan looking like GGG opponent for May 5

According to a report by Mike Coppinger at RingTV.com, Gennady Golovkin may have finally found an opponent, and will keep his date on May 5, though his fight would move from HBO pay-per-view to regular HBO, and the bout would be held at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, rather than in Las Vegas.

If the report is true, and the rumor mill has certainly buzzed about it, Golovkin will be facing veteran junior middleweight Vanes Martirosyan.

Martirosyan (36-3-1, 21 KO) isn’t going to get many people excited as an opponent for Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KO), but given the time frame we’re working with, I don’t think it’s a particularly bad fight. Golovkin was training for May 5 and wanted to keep the date. The options, especially when you consider just getting the right deal done, too, were always going to be limited.

Martirosyan, who turns 33 on May 1, hasn’t fought in two years, since a loss to Erislandy Lara, and he’s never seriously competed above 154 pounds.

But in all three of his setbacks, against Lara, Jermell Charlo, and Demetrius Andrade, he’s been highly competitive. He’s a solid, capable fighter, and he’s also willing to step in and make this fight happen on the May 5 date, which is as important as anything.