Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin 3? GGG To Choose DAZN Or ESPN

Former middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin is expected to make a decision on his new broadcast partner before the end of the year.

Golovkin is currently a free agent after HBO dropped its coverage of boxing in September, and he was reported to be in advanced talks with streaming service DAZN late last month.

"DAZN has aggressively pursued Gennady Golovkin, and the sides are in advanced talks," Ring Magazine's Mike Coppinger reported. "GGG promoter Tom Loeffler hoping to wrap a deal up soon ahead of a spring return for the former middleweight champ."

However, it looks like ESPN, in conjunction with Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing, was also in the mix and had made an offer to compete with the one made by DAZN.

"ESPN and DAZN are very interested in Gennady and in the running," Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler said, as quoted on ESPN. "Both have a big budget for GGG. Gennady will make a decision this year on the direction he wants to go in. I'm going to give him the pros and cons of each offer and he is the one who will make the final decision."

Money aside, DAZN seems to be the natural choice.

It signed Canelo Alvarez to a record-breaking 5-year, 11-fight, $365 million deal in October and joining it would expedite a potential third fight between him and Golovkin. The Kazakh lost his middleweight titles and his unbeaten record following a controversial unanimous decision loss to the Mexican in their September rematch.

Alvarez was scheduled to face Rocky Fielding in a super middleweight title fight in New York on Dec. 15. He recently spoke about the possibility of a trilogy fight with Golovkin, however.

“It’s a fight that could happen," Alvarez said. “You know, down the line it could happen. We have a fight on Dec. 15 first, but it’s a fight that could totally happen. If the fans want it, if the people want it and it’s in demand, it totally could happen. But that’s further down the line. We’re focused on this fight now."

"The plan at DAZN is to make big fights," Joe Markowski, DAZN's executive vice president for North America explained in October. "The Canelo and Golden Boy announcement is a huge step on that journey. We needed to land a big name, Canelo, the biggest, and for us it marks the start of something we're going to add to."

"GGG is no exception. We're engaging in conversations. In simple broad strokes we want the biggest fights on our platform. GGG is right at the top of our list. We have funds to back up what we want to do. They are not limitless funds but funds to do things that make sense."

Whatever choice Golovkin eventually ends up making, it will be packaged with the "Superfly" series and the rest of the fighters Loeffler promotes, such as Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez and undisputed women's welterweight world champion Cecilia Braekhus.

"We'll get a package deal wherever we go," Loeffler added. "Both ESPN and DAZN are offering good packages."