De La Hoya pulls the plug on Canelo-Golovkin II negotiations

According to multiple sources, including ESPN’s Dan Rafael, Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin were unable to come to terms for a September rematch and now Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya will be looking for Canelo to take on another opponent.

Although De La Hoya, who represents Canelo, and K2 promoter Tom Loeffler, who represents Golovkin, were willing to find some middle ground on a much disputed purse split, ultimately it was Golovkin himself who was unwilling to budge from his demand of a 50/50 revenue split. And because Golovkin was unwilling to move off that demand, seemingly driven by principle only, there was just nowhere for negotiations to go.

“He’s stubborn and wanting 50-50 and it’s not going to happen,” De La Hoya told ESPN about Golovkin. “The Canelo train has left the station.”

De La Hoya has now extended a formal offer to Daniel Jacobs for a September 15th fight against Canelo in what would be an HBO PPV event at the T-Mobilie Arena in Las Vegas.

“So there’s a deal on the table for Daniel Jacobs to fight Sept. 15 against Canelo,” De La Hoya said. “Eddie loves the idea. He loves the fight. Daniel Jacobs loves the fight and we love the fight as well. So we’re just moving forward and making sure that Canelo has the toughest dance partner possible for Sept. 15.”

This may ultimately be the second time this year where Golovkin has inadvertently torpedoed the biggest payday out there for him by far, however noble his cause. The originally scheduled May 5th rematch came undone when Canelo failed a couple of drug tests, but the fight was still thought to be salvageable until Team Golovkin continually indicted the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s integrity when it came to cash cow Canelo.

Golovkin and his team essentially went on a media campaign accusing the commission of favoritism and looking to other way when it came to what his team believe were illegal hand wraps and signs of doping allowed for Canelo in their first fight. Some believe that Golovkin was so publicly critical of Canelo and the commission that he put them in a position where they had no choice but to suspend Canelo in order to save face.

That sequence of events would push off the Canelo rematch until at least September, but Golovkin was so fed up with all the circumstances surrounding Canelo by that point — including the questionable draw from their first fight — that Golovkin insisted on an even revenue split for the sequel. That was a non-starter from Golden Boy’s perspective as Canelo is demonstrably the bigger star of the two and can make big bucks fighting almost anyone, whereas Golovkin went from a prospective $20M purse for fighting Canelo to $1M for fighting Vanes Martirosyan last month.

De La Hoya says that if Golovkin ever “comes to his senses” the rematch can now be looked at for Cinco de Mayo next year. By that time Golovkin will be 37-years-old to Canelo’s 28. Last year, before their first fight, I wrote that Canelo beats Golovkin whether or not the two ever met in the ring because Canelo had the invaluable luxury of time on his side. That’s just as true now as it was then. It’ll be even more true by next spring.

There’s honor in principle, but it can surely come with a high price tag.

To that end De La Hoya took a parting shot by mentioning that Golovkin will now have to fight five or six opponents to even possibly earn the kind of money he would in just one fight against Canelo.