Is it funny that Golovkin wants Mayweather, but says he's not ready for Ward?

Welcome to another 5 page plus GGG thread. we all work for K2 promotions! :grouphug

 

Mayweather offered Marquez catch weight and wouldn't even fulfill it yet wanted Martinez to move down to catch weight (past 154 lbs).

 

Ward is retired!

 

It'll just be reiterating what's already been stated but:-

1) Golovkin's never called out Mayweather, merely said, as has his promoter when asked, that of course he'd love that fight (as would any other fighter who could make FMJs weightclasses) and would be willing to go to 154 if the opportunity arose. This is a no-brainer and so obvious as to hardly require explanation.

2) Golovkin's team has said that he was 'open to offers' from anyone from 154 - 168, but that his focus was on 160 for the present. From the beginning it was made clear that moves either to 154 or 168 were only likely in the event of particularly desirable fights.

The statement that that Golovkin was 'not ready' for Ward was clearly explained as being a matter of the financial reward by Sanchez - not about Wards (or any other SMWs) size. In short, yes, if one is to ignore the fact that Ward ain't fighting anyone at the moment anyway, it is clearly a matter of risk / reward.

So, in short, no. There's nothing at all strange about Golovkin preferring a FMJ fight to a Ward fight, though since neither of them has actually 'called him out' or vice versa it's a kinda moot point.

 

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The GGG express is strong here at ESP/boxingforum24:grouphug

 

To break it down point by point..

Firstly, anyone (and there were a few) accusing Maravilla of ducking GGG was just plain stupid. By the time GGG emerged as a being a significant player (at least in terms of popularity) on the US scene, Sergio was already injured and remained so until he came back to fight Cotto in what was obviously a far more desirable fight for the old champ.

Secondly, Ward hasn't actually called GGG out or made any kind of offer to GGG AFAIK, simply said 'send me an offer'. The thing is, even if Ward were available to fight (which is unclear) Golovkin would be relying on HBO to fund any potential fight - certainly the $1 - $1.5 mil total purse which seems to have been roughly the budget placed on GGGs recent fights wouldn't be enough for Wards guaranteed $1.75 mil / fight. In short, it'd be Ward / Goosens executors as the A side who'd have to be making the offers since I'm assuming they're the ones with the bigger HBO $s to throw around.

Pointing to the Ward - Rodriguez purse is slightly misleading since firstly by signing with Haymon whilst the fight was under negotiation La Bomba was able (as I recall) to massively upbid his purse since there was no other immediately available opponent. And secondly, at the time HBO were looking to build Ward into a star and hoping to get (and keep) him active following his shoulder injury, and so were willing to make the investment.

However (and I am speculating a little) it seems that having massively overpaid for La Bomba - a mistake they proved unwilling to repeat for Stevenson vs Fonfara - they seem to have cooled on their enthusiasm for Ward a little.

One can imagine they would be unwilling to invest to heavily in a fighter with an uncertain future who remains inactive and could potentially jump ship upon the conclusion of his promotional battles.

Again there is some guesswork involved, but amongst the legal BS between Goosen and Ward, the judge apparently agreed that Goosen had been fulfilling his responsibilities in getting Ward genuine fight offers... which makes me wonder why Ward wasn't accepting them. I'm speculating, but my guess is that HBO have simply become unwilling to put up the kinda purses that Ward feels he deserves.

And as for HBO? Right now, in terms of public interest Ward - Golovkin is simply not that big a fight. What reason would they have to pay $millions to risk harming the potential earning power of either of their potential stars (more so given that should he win there's at least a chance of Ward subsequently defecting to Haymon) without really even making a killing on the venture?

So. In short, no. I wouldn't count on there being a big payday for GGG in fighting Ward. In fact, I wouldn't count on HBO approving it at all. My sense is that Wards's become something of a white elephant for them.

Don't get me wrong. I like the idea of Golovkin fighting Ward and ideally Froch if it can be made before the Cobra retires, and my preference would be for Golovkin to move upto 168 sooner rather than later, cos I really do feel there's few challenges left for him at 160.

But this idea that somehow a Ward fight makes sense in terms of where Golovkin's career is at right now, or that it would somehow provide a major payday is a bit disingenuous. Almost certainly if Golovkins mass appeal continues to grow and Ward gets his career back on track and starts fighting regularly again, this could potentially be a really major fight (depending on how things progress it's even possible it could make PPV - though I ain't holding my breath), but right now it'd barely justify Wards purse.

Again. I ain't saying that Golovkin shouldn't fight Ward (and whilst I think that Ward probably wins I believe it'd be far more competitive than many think) but I can see some very strong reasons why they should leave it til later.(quite aside from the fact that Ward appears to be kinda unavailable anyway).

 

He wants Mayweather because its a moster pay day for little risk that would give him massive exposure to boxing and non boxing fans alike. As a boxing fan id like to see him smoke Floyd. Then agaian i'd also like to see him move up to fight Ward, though ithink Ward beats him, there just wouldnt be the same money or exposure. Not saying it would be worth it, but its a fraction of what Floyd gives him.