Some ducking by some fighters but if he moved up to 168 he would find better fighters and guys who would be willing to fight him. 168 would be the best thing GGG could do to improve his resume and get the big names.
There are a slew of guys around his division at 154 and 168. The excuses must stop. He's 32 for Christ's sake!
He doesn't need excuses for anything. They just offered the Monaco date to Geale, Murray, NDam, Lee, none of them wanted it. He hasn't passed on a single offer AFAIK, and he's had just about every MW top tenner refuse his offer.
contenders screaming on twitter every day. 'triple g is ducking me' 'triple g won't give me a shot' (not)
Sergio was 35 when he won Lineal MW. Whats your point? Also, with the HBO/GBP split there is actually almost nothing available at 154 (which was a target of GGG camp prior to cold war) and only a couple names at 168 with a payday worth the hassle and weight change. (also partly due to cold war). Gotta remember, except for Ward the available 168ers (with the possible exception of JCCjr which GGG, and especially Abel have wanted to fight for a long time) are also Euro/Brit which will introduce many of the same issues in matchmaking found with 160 Brits and Euros. JCC is rematching Vera, Ward is in a 3rd promotional dispute. 168 will be a serious consideration at end of 2014. People easily forget that GGG just with his last fight finally cracked the topmost ratings tier (~1.5m range). Its only now that HBO can finally get the willing consent of the bean counters to start considering the type of 7 figure paydays required to lure the Euros and Brits (other than balls of steel types like Macklin) out of their comfort zones and into US venues for primetime headliners. And dont be surprised if they dont throw in one more lower rated type like a Kirkland in the mix for an additional fan friendly showcase before they do, just because they probably think they can. A year from now, expect GGG to either be consensus (if not titular) MW champ or else exposed. Take your pick. (I pick champ fwiw). But when so many successful promoters like Hearns and DiBella rate GGG extremely highly to the point where they admit mid 6-figures isnt enough to entice them to risk their top guys - blaming the Golovkin camp for lack of "top fights" and demanding weight class switch is silly when they have just now finally reached the level where HBO will seriously think about cracking open their wallet to make the fights happen.