HBO discussions: Gennady Golovkin vs James Kirkland, April 26th

They can't turn into ratings whores though and push inferior matches. Kirkland is a poor mans version of the Stevens fight which just happened. Stevens is a better all around boxer, much better defense, was coming down from LHW/SMW while Kirkland is a JMW who has been stopped by Ishida who Golovkin destroyed. Truth is Stevens didn't deserve a title shot but due to everyones unwillingness to fight GGG, Stevens having a little hype for knocking out a nobody and his punching power it was made. Doing the same thing against a worse version of the same thing back to back isn't acceptable.

 

NO. GGG should be looking to get Geale, Murray or Sturm for April.

 

Kirkland isn't a bum what are yall talking about? He is however a 154lb fighter, triple G fights@160

 

No way this lasts 9 minutes

 

Oh heck no. No no no. Geale and Murray reportedly in a position to want GGG fight now, please let him get in the ring with legit MW contenders.

Save Kirkland for an entertaining MC date if he can win a couple fights in 2014.

 

If Kirkland still had his pre prison punch resistance I would love to see this fight. Golovkin would likely destroy the current Kirkland though, and probably inside two rounds. I am not ok with Kirkland as the opponent, when N'Jkam, Murray, and Geale should be available.

 

nah, he should at least go down to 154 and fight them..

he is a "small MW" afterall right?

 

:yep


Rubio / Geale / Mora would be some decent opponents for 3G.

 

These are all good points, and that's why Kirkland's not on the short list of who I'd like to see GGG fight.

However, putting myself in HBO's shoes, I can clearly see why it makes business sense for them. Especially if they plan on Kirkland being exposed soon- why not feed him to GGG, get another 1+ million viewers, and use that to continue the GGG hype train instead of risking another Ishida incident?

Right now, the last guy (ironically enough) with real say in who GGG fights is GGG himself. K2's matchmaking ability is being squeezed at both ends - whatever budget HBO gives them and GGG's opponents' promoters demanding more to compensate for the risk.

The plus side is that the ratings justify investing more in GGG fights. But we may see one more budget-friendly fight before that happens. He's made as strong a case as any fighter in the HBO stable to demand a higher % of the annual budget though, so I'm optimistic the caliber of opponent K2 will be able to afford will increase (even with the opposing promoters' increased demands).

 

Sadly, Golovkin-Kirkland would do higher ratings than Golovkin-Geale/Murray/Rubio/N'Dam. Anyone outside of hardcore fans would rather see the Kirkland fight. I hope it doesn't happen, but based on what Herman was quoted saying in response to Geale claiming he'll GGG in April, I'd say it seems very possible now.

It'll come down to what Geale and Murray ask for. Would HBO rather pay that money to those guys for lesser ratings or to Kirkland for more ratings? Choosing Kirkland makes a bigger fight, transfers his momentum to Golovkin and then Golovkin grows into an even bigger name.

I don't like it. I'm already upset they choose Adama over Mora. Mora is a less action packed fight, but it shows us a new angle to GGG. Same thing here, Kirkland is overmatched and gets beat down like Stevenson. Exciting for about 3 rounds and then it's an execution.

 

good fight, kirkland is more durable than people give him credit for and he's relentless. I'd give the edge to golovkin but i think kirkland is the only 154-160 pounder that can stop golovkin.

 

I see people (correctly I might add) assessing the impact of the network. One thing I would add, is gate take. Pretty sure thats why GGG has "partnered" with MSG and tries to fight there a lot. Bigger gate = leverage against network.

So unfortunately, if K2 thinks Kirkland can fill the Theatre at MSG again but isnt sure Murray or Geale can... we might see this fight made.

Stevens fight was effectively a last-minute sellout of the Theatre (handful of tix remaining at event start ). K2 will probably go for a quick sellout of Theatre before trying to jump to the next level... whether Kirkland is the opponent to do that with or not I have no idea.

If it was before his recent spat of problems I would say yes, but now?

But then again maybe there are a lot of NJ based fans who would make the drive to NYC to see their boy Tapia avenged in brutal fashion :!:

 

That's how I see a fight between the two playing out, too.

The other X-factor is that, if you're Gaele, Murray, or N'dam (given his track record, Rubio seems like he'd take the fight, no questions asked), and you see how quickly GGG's popularity has grown, why rush? Waiting has already paid off them. Letting Golovkin knock out Kirkland is just going to mean more money for them once HBO jacks up GGG's allocation while allowing for a stay-busy fight in the meantime.

I'm convinced GGG-Kirkland's coming next after Adama. Fortunately, GGG's an active fighter so we won't have to wait long. Maybe one of the bigger names is feasible for his summer fight.

 

Excellent point on the gate. This can be an overlooked opportunity at times, but if K2 succeeds in building the Theatre at MSG as a sort of "home base" for GGG, that does give them a bit more of a cushion on what they can offer. Of course, as you mentioned, that actually makes the Kirkland fight even more likely because he'd almost certainly sell more tickets than Murray or Gaele at this point.

And, to be fair, it will be an exciting few minutes of boxing.

 

shh, everybody will be served, the guy fights 4-5 times a year.