IBF strips Gennady Golovkin of belt for failure to fight challenger

[smashup]

It has been a bad couple of days for unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin, who is undefeated in the ring but 0-2 in the boardroom in the past two days.
One day after Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya said he was ending talks with his camp for a Sept. 15 rematch with Canelo Alvarez because of Golovkin's unwillingness to move off an unacceptable demand for a 50-50 purse split, GGG was stripped of one of his three major 160-pound title belts by the IBF on Wednesday for his failure to fight mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
"It comes as a complete shock that the IBF would make a ruling far beyond what the Derevyanchenko side was asking for," Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler told ESPN. "They weren't asking for him to be stripped. They were asking to have their shot at the IBF title next, but they never asked for him to be stripped. In light of this ruling, I think the IBF has completely mistreated GGG. It is the worst treatment they have ever shown any unified champion in their history.
"Gennady is disappointed in the ruling."
EDITOR'S PICKS

• GGG restarts rematch talk with Alvarez's camp
  
  Gennady Golovkin has agreed to come off his demand for a 50-50 split of the purse in a potential rematch against Canelo Alvarez, Tom Loeffler, Golovkin's promoter said Wednesday, a day after Oscar De La Hoya said a rematch wouldn't happen.

On May 22, the fighters and their teams gathered at a hotel in Newark, New Jersey, for a four-plus-hour hearing on the matter during which both sides presented their cases. The sanctioning body had 10 business days to rule, which it did on Wednesday, notifying both camps with a letter via email, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, that GGG had been stripped.
The issue with the IBF arose after Golovkin's scheduled May 5 rematch with Alvarez was canceled and Alvarez was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for twice testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug clenbuterol in random tests in February.
Alvarez was Golovkin's WBC mandatory challenger and that fight was due next under the rotation system used by the four major sanctioning organizations in instances when a fighter holds multiple belts. But when the May 5 fight was canceled, Derevyanchenko's team asserted that it should be next.
Instead of trying to make a short-notice fight with Derevyanchenko, whose camp was pressing for the fight, Golovkin instead faced replacement foe Vanes Martirosyan on May 5 and crushed him in the second round.
The IBF declined to sanction that bout, so GGG's IBF belt was not at stake, but it did not strip him because Loeffler paid a $20,000 fee on April 20 for it to consider his request for an exception.
The exception was granted, but the IBF laid out terms for Golovkin to keep the title. One of those terms was that he had to agree in writing before the Martirosyan fight that he would next fight Derevyanchenko within 90 days of the May 5 bout, or by Aug. 3.
According to the IBF ruling, on April 30, Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs), 36, a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Santa Monica, California, filed an appeal objecting to the order of having to fight Derevyanchenko by Aug. 3. Attorney Alex Dombroff, the in-house lawyer for Derevyanchenko promoter Lou DiBella, filed a response to the appeal on May 7.
At that point, the IBF called for the May 22 hearing, which was attended by both fighters, DiBella, Dombroff, Keith Connolly (Derevyanchenko's manager), Loeffler and Golovkin trainer Abel Sanchez and attorney Patrick English.
"After reviewing the written submissions and hearing the oral arguments of counsel for the parties on May 22, 2018, the panel, composed of three IBF members, all of whom are practicing attorneys, made its recommendations to the [IBF] president, Daryl Peoples, and to the championships committee in accordance with Rule 12.F.," the IBF ruling said. "The president and the championships committee approved the condition that Golovkin agree to fight the IBF middleweight mandatory opponent by August 3, 2018, in order to avoid the penalty of losing his title under Rule 5.H."
The IBF ruling further said, "Since Golovkin has not agreed in writing to fight the IBF mandatory opponent by August 3, 2018, a required condition for the grant of the exception, the request for an exception to Rule 5.H. must now be denied. ... The penalty for Golovkin having participated in an unsanctioned contest within his weight class under Rule 5.H. is that his IBF middleweight title will be declared vacant."
The IBF will now go down its list of rated contenders until one of them agrees to face Derevyanchenko (12-0, 10 KOs), 32, a 2008 Olympian from Ukraine, for the vacant title. Derevyanchenko became the mandatory challenger by knocking out Tureano Johnson in the 12th round of a title elimination bout on Aug. 25, 2017.
DiBella was happy that Derevyanchenko will get his title shot and commended the IBF.
"I've always respected the IBF for following their rules," he said. "They made a completely legitimate ruling beforehand and they did not strip GGG before his fight with Martirosyan, but he wasn't going to honor the requirement that he fight Derevyanchenko next. They never came to us to try to make the fight. It was clear they weren't going to try to make the fight, not with the possibility of the Canelo rematch, which looks dead now anyway. So I commend them for doing the right thing.
"I also want to give appropriate kudos to Alex Dombroff, who did a terrific job representing Derevyanchenko. He seriously did an outstanding job and he can be proud of the work he did. Kudos to the young guy who had a career-enhancing moment. He worked really hard."
DiBella, long a big Golovkin fan, said there are no hard feelings on their side.
"I said this to GGG in person at the hearing -- that he's a great champion and I respect how he's handled himself, and this does not detract from my respect for him.
"But you can't have it all ways. I told him I'd be rooting for him if the Canelo fight happens."

[COLOR=rgba(0, 102, 204, 0.8]Comments[/COLOR]

[Alpha]

Looked like it would go this way, GGG's quest for all the belts just hit another wall.

Who does that leave to fill the title? Sergiy Derevyanchenko was the mandatory, Jacobs, Charlo and Andrade are 3, 4 and 5.

[Master]

GGG is recognised as the undisputed champion and does not need the belts to show that at this stage of his career. Pick one belt and sell the rest to the highest bidder as Lennox did after he became the champion and let the youngsters fight for his scraps whilst GGG makes the biggest matches he can.

[Primo Carnera]

GGG is recognised as the undisputed champion and does not need the belts to show that at this stage of his career. Pick one belt and sell the rest to the highest bidder as Lennox did after he became the champion and let the youngsters fight for his scraps whilst GGG makes the biggest matches he can.

"GGG is recognised as the undisputed champion and does not need the belts to show that at this stage of his career."

no disrespect, but what a load of bollocks that is. He's fucked about for years now banging on about unifying the belts, blah blah. If he really wanted to do that , why :
a. Fight Canelo in the first place seeing as Canelo doesn't have any of the said belts?
b. Why wait for him and chase and beg for a rematch despite the fact that not only does he not have a belt, but he's fucking banned for cheating!
GGG has only had one serious challenge in recent times from a relevant MW (Jacobs) and it's debatable whether he actually won that , so no, he's not recognized as undisputed any more.

" Pick one belt and sell the rest to the highest bidder as Lennox did after he became the champion and let the youngsters fight for his scraps whilst GGG makes the biggest matches he can."

another priceless soundbite. He's not having much luck making these "Big Matches" is he?
This all serves GGG right . He's either made some stupid decisions or been badly mismanaged. either way, he's made a very good job of MINIMIZING his earning potential in the twilight of his career when he would really want to cash out.

at the risk of repeating myself, in the last 2 years, He could've beat BJS , he beat (?) Jacobs , he could've took on Charlo, maybe even gone up to SMW , and all the time his stock would be rising and he would be earning more.
This isn't just aimed at him, everywhere you look , you see guys who want to earn mega bucks and not fight the best because of the risk factor. But the big bucks only really come when you beat the best of the best. they all want a short cut unfortunately.

[Master]

GGG has been avoided for many years before he became champion and he has beat every available threat put in front of him.

Stop re-writing history to make out triple G has avoided anyone.

[Batman]

GGG has been avoided for many years before he became champion and he has beat every available threat put in front of him.

Stop re-writing history to make out triple G has avoided anyone.

He didn't avoid anyone he just chased the money

[Master]

GGG has been avoided for many years before he became champion and he has beat every available threat put in front of him.

Stop re-writing history to make out triple G has avoided anyone.

He didn't avoid anyone he just chased the money

When no one better was available.

[Primo Carnera]

GGG has been avoided for many years before he became champion and he has beat every available threat put in front of him.

Stop re-writing history to make out triple G has avoided anyone.

He didn't avoid anyone he just chased the money

When no one better was available.

Who said he avoided anyone? He just backed th wrong horse. Went down the wrong route. You live and die by your decisions. And he hasn’t learnt a fucking thing. Latest is negotiations are back on as he’s prepared to take 45%. STOP FUCKING BEGGING!!!
And anyway, you haven’t explained that if he wanted to unify the belts, why was he wasting his time with Canelo? Canelo doesn’t have a belt??

[El Kabong]

This seems a bit harsh no? Canelo gets popped for PEDs and GGG is stripped of his title for it? Kinda shitty.

There's a few things title holders can do
1. Stagnate and take 0 risks a la Sven Ottke
2. Make the big money fights like most of the best known fighters
3. really challenge themselves to unify divisions or move up or down in weight to conquer other challenges


GGG probably spent too much time on #2 and not enough time on #3...I don't think he did #1 but it is a shame he's been stripped.

[J_Undisputed]

Both sides have a point. He beat canelo already; he beat jacobs. I'd have been happy to see him fight Derevyanchenko, force a fight or flight with Saunders to get the WBO or even fight Charlo (Even though I think he needed 2 more fights at middle), Murata for some door prize. Rematches after that. I think GGG has gotten away from what he set out to do. Without that conviction and purpose, he just becomes a pawn in the game. After that happens, the hunger is gone, the focus isn't there and the losses follow.

Usually its a Nike contract or some other business endeavor that seals the curse. Pacquiao Nike contract ... loses to Bradley, JMM... Roy Jones has his nike deal in 95' i believe, but started his rap career before shortly before losing to Tarver/ Johnson. Its not that i dont believe GGG wont remain humble out of the ring, but once you start diluting your focus... and well....

[TitoFan]

GGG won the first fight against Canelo where his only sin was giving Ginger Boy too much respect and allow the judges to promptly do what they always do with Ginger Boy....... give him an undeserved gift. But man oh man...... GGG is sure getting reamed at the negotiations table. Rather than man up and sticking to his more than reasonable 50/50 demands, he wilted like a bitch and is slinking back to the table having let Fishnets score a victory in that regard. I haven't seen a one-sided humiliation like that since, since, since.......... oh yeah.......... since Ginger Boy somehow got in the same ring with Mayweather.

[Primo Carnera]

This seems a bit harsh no? Canelo gets popped for PEDs and GGG is stripped of his title for it? Kinda shitty.

There's a few things title holders can do
1. Stagnate and take 0 risks a la Sven Ottke
2. Make the big money fights like most of the best known fighters
3. really challenge themselves to unify divisions or move up or down in weight to conquer other challenges


GGG probably spent too much time on #2 and not enough time on #3...I don't think he did #1 but it is a shame he's been stripped.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there . the only difference with me is I don't think it's overly harsh, I reckon the governing bodies should be doing this more often . That way , maybe they could take back control and the tail doesn't wag the dog.

[Spicoli]

Seemed pretty predictable and shady all along. Ultimately the ibf served as thumb screws to get Golovkin back to the table but in all honesty Golovkin should have pushed back harder from the start and reiterate the fact that..he already beat Canelo in the first place! Oh and that he's the one who did not cheat. I like the guy and think he is getting screwed a bit but he's also acting like an all too eager puppy just happy to be in the car for the ride. Had they not recognized the Vanes defense would they still push for mandatory by Aug 5th? A 90 day turn around is pretty unrealistic these days, especially when you're the man to beat. Fans are not going to remember how many 0's cleared your checking account they remember who you beat.

[Ron Swanson]

This may be a best case scenario. If Clanelo isn’t going to fight him, great! That means a Charlo fight that has been ordered is actually on the table. I’d rather see Clanelo vs Jacobs and GGG vs Charlo anyway.

But do we get these next logical fights, doubtful

[powerpuncher]

This may be a best case scenario. If Clanelo isn’t going to fight him, great! That means a Charlo fight that has been ordered is actually on the table. I’d rather see Clanelo vs Jacobs and GGG vs Charlo anyway.

But do we get these next logical fights, doubtful

Those fights would be great. I doubt that Canelo and GGG want those fights though.