Golovkin advisor implies his team was slighted, wants WBA to order bout with Sturm
Drama, drama, drama. Ivaylo Gotzev, advisor to WBA interim middleweight titlist, Gennady Golovkin’s, has issued some advice to the World Boxing Association. He's suggesting how to solve the confusing situation currently subsuming the WBA rankings and titlists. Gotzev says the WBA should decree Golovkin a fight for the full WBA title, or they should decree a fight between him and WBA Super middleweight champion, Felix Sturm, in order to make the determination once and for all.
Gotzev’s advice was given in response to the news that the WBA is considering a fight between No.2 rated Hassan N’Dam N’Jkam and No.3 rated Avtandil Khurtsindze for the WBA middleweight championship. That would mean bypassing Golovkin, who won the interim title by pummelling Milton Nunez in August.
To clarify Gotzev’s reaction, it must be understood that according to WBA ranking, there can only ever be two champions in a given weight division. Either there is a WBA world champion and WBA interim champion, or there is a “Super” WBA champion and either a WBA world champion or a WBA interim champion.
In Golovkin’s case, because Felix Sturm recently became a Super WBA middleweight champion with his defense against Giovanni Lorenzo, he detracted his WBA world champion title by default. Since the slot has become vacated, the WBA is faced with the decision of how to fill it, and must involve current prospects.
"The WBA elevated Felix Sturm to super champion and let him avoid fighting Golovkin as his mandatory," Gotzev complained. "Then they mandated that Anthony Mundine fight Golovkin for the vacant belt. We won the purse bid, but Mundine bailed because he knew he would get knocked out. Then we ended up knocking out Nunez for the interim belt. So now we don't understand how N'Jkam can fight Khurtsindze for yet another WBA belt?"
Gotzev claimed that if the WBA goes through with a fight between No.2 and No.3 ranked for the WBA world middleweight title, the only reasonable thing to do would be to sanction a bout between Golovkin and Sturm for the Super title. "We're going to stay on this until we sort out this WBA mess. I've been in contact with them and we'll file a formal protest if they don't put Gennady in the fight for the regular belt or put him in against Felix Sturm. Gennady is the best middleweight in the world and we'll fight any of those guys, one after the other. If Golovkin fights Sturm, then we'll agree to let N'Jkam fight Khurtsindze."
Gennady Golovkin is widely considered one of the best middleweight fighters in the world. In the 2004 Olympics, he beat current super-middleweight contender Andre Dirrell for the silver medal. He is also the only amateur or pro to have knocked out current IBF super middleweight champion, Lucian Bute.
Golovkin is currently 19-0, with 16 KOs as a professional. He stopped Nunez, for the interim middleweight title, in a whopping 58 seconds.
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