Hello fighting fans and welcome to another Thursday huddled around my bulging sack, waiting for weeks for my squishy, salty truth. This week we have questions/comments regarding GGG, Berlanga, Tank-Ryan and the possible death of Wilder-Ruiz.
GGG/Berlanga/Tank-Ryan
Hi Paul.
Hope you and your family are doing well, a few questions for this week’s inbox:
-Will we ever see GGG again? He doesn’t seem interested in fighting nowadays, I know his DAZN contract is supposed to have 6 games and he only has 5. I know Lara is designated as his WBA mandator, but he’s on the PBC side.
-As a fan (pretty sure Berlanga doesn’t care), I don’t like him signing to Matchroom. We all know he’s only signed because he’s capable of fighting Canelo, but other than that, I don’t see any worthy opponent on the Matchroom side that could make a match good fight. I know this means he’s part of DAZN now, but the way ODLH has been manipulating his mouth lately makes it hard for me to imagine Berlanga going to fight Munguia.
– In the end, do you still think Tank vs Ryan won’t happen?
Best regards.
– Miguel
Hey Miguel.
I will deal with them in order.
– I always “keep it real” when it comes to Gennadiy Golovkin (Usually the only one out of many of our many flattery GGG cheerleaders in this media). Golovkin has spent the last decade of his career swimming in entitlement, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. He’ll only be motivated to fight the “right” fighting style for him, meaning just one big-money blockbuster against a short list of very exclusive opponents. And without Canelo, that shortlist has almost no names on it at the moment. Honestly, I was surprised when he dropped the IBF belt and refused the mandatory match against Esquiva Falcao. That would be a safe, comfortable way to end his DAZN deal. As he has learned many times in the past, he won’t be too worried about this opposing choice. I can only imagine there’s no way that even the simple people at DAZN would allow someone who can’t do such marketing for their guy, and at the same time, they don’t want the fight to go like this bid they would probably lose to him for a contest that could be his last.
The WBA ordered him to take on Erislandy Lara and, although this is more marketable than a match against Falcao and it does give him the opportunity to add another name to his resume (although is a downvoted name), I wouldn’t be surprised if he vacated the WBA Title also denying this match. I don’t think there will be a problem in getting Golovkin-Lara from the PBC side because, in fact, Lara is in the late stages of the race and has limited options anyway. The problem will be that DAZN sells this war, transfers enough money to pay for Golovkin’s guarantee, and solves the fact that if the Lara side only holds out for a week or so, until the 23rd deadline February, they could be forced to pay the price and have a legit shot to bring the fight to Showtime/PBC.
I don’t know where Golovkin is going from here, but there’s a good chance he could head back to the UK to fight Liam Smith or stay “in the house” to face Jaime Munguia next. An “sideway” bonus for Lara could also be part of a plan for the immediate future.
– Berlanga chose Matchroom purely because of Eddie Hearn’s proximity to Canelo. Stage. He can make more money for a single match against Canelo than he can make in all the other matches on his multi-match contract combined. The only way I see him fight Munguia before he gets shot by Canelo, is if Canelo retreats or falls off the ladder and breaks his back or something. Expect Berlanga to be soft compared until he can get that matchup against Canelo. But this could certainly be one of Matchroom’s patented boxing blunders (and due to its connection to DAZN). The kid, IMO, hasn’t reacted well to the promotion in recent fights and his skills seem to have become stagnant (and lagging in some areas). Berlanga is most likely defeated before he gets Canelo and I don’t trust Hearn’s matchmaking to get him into that golden goose fight.
– I wouldn’t believe Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia for April 15. I would be optimistic saying that the probability of that date is 50-50.
For me, what makes me doubt we will get Tank-Ryan as promised has nothing to do with contracts or negotiations. It all has to do with the fickle, unpredictable natures of both boxers.
By the way, Davis has a court date on hit and run charges scheduled for today, which could land him in jail. Even if he did get out of prison without going to jail, there was no guarantee that another set of troubles wouldn’t come his way. Meanwhile, Garcia has a history of trauma/mental health issues that prevent him from participating in scheduled fights. While he insists he’s on fire for this Davis challenge, there’s still a pretty good chance, IMO, that life transcends desire and that something might come up to pull the kid away. .
I hate to be the one to belittle all of this and I certainly hope I’m wrong, but there’s a lot that could go awry between now and April. I will stop buying any airline tickets or booking any hotel rooms right now.
Wilder-Ruiz?
Hey Magno.
Not long ago, they talked about Deontay Wilder versus Andy Ruiz as if it were a done deal. Now, Wilder is negotiating a two-fight deal with Francis Ngannou and Ruiz will likely face Filip Hrgovic for the interim IBF title. What happened? Can we get Wilder-Ruiz back? It would be a good one.
– T.
Hey T.
There were rumors in the media about Wilder being unhappy with the money being offered for a match against Ruiz and exploring other options, including a deal to face Francis Ngannou. However, it goes without saying that any and all of today’s media reports should be taken with an appropriately sized grain of salt. The IBF ordered Ruiz-Hrgovic to bid, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Ruiz has to obey and fight Hrgovic. We’ll know Ruiz’s plans soon, and that should give you an idea of a near or far Wilder fight. I also like Wilder-Ruiz and I hope it can be done. But if Wilder can land a match against Ngannou for the huge sums that come with it, who can blame him for taking a detour away from Ruiz?
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