Former unified World middleweight champion Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin has been ordered to face WBC ‘Interim’ champion Jermall Charlo – with the winner gaining the right for a shot at full champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Golovkin, who ruled over the middleweight division with a dominant twenty-consecutive title defences, has spoken recently of his desire for a trilogy fight with Mexican star Alvarez, following his narrow majority decision loss on September 15th in Las Vegas.
However, any hopes of an immediate rematch have been quashed by the sport’s governing bodies, with the WBC announcing their plans for Golovkin to meet unbeaten American hotshot Charlo.
Texas-born Charlo – a former titleholder at 154lbs – has been vocal in his own desire for a shot at the division’s elite, and has been waiting patiently (if not silently) for an opportunity to step into the ring with ‘GGG’ and/or Canelo.
Boasting an unblemished record of 27-0 (21 KO’s), the elder Charlo twin captured the ‘interim’ strap in his last outing, halting then-undefeated Hugo Centeno Jr. in two rounds on the undercard of Adrien Broner’s draw with Jessie Vargas in Brooklyn.
With Golovkin now a free agent following HBO’s withdrawal from boxing programming, rumours continue to circulate that the Kazakh superstar may lay his hat at the feet of Al Haymon and Showtime – making a bout with Charlo a realistic and tantalising prospect.
However, now aged 36 and surely in the twilight of an already illustrious professional career, it remains to be seen whether Golovkin would wish to entertain a bout with the brash, power-punching 28-year-old.
Nevertheless, a match-up between the two would come with a guarantee of a big-money showdown with Alvarez: and with it, a chance for Golovkin to gain the retribution many fans believe he is entitled to following two controversial decisions in their previous bouts.