By Jake Donovan

It didn’t take long for news of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (47-1-1, 33KOs) vacating his World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight crown to make the rounds. The move made by the 25-year old superstar from Mexico has dominated discussion on social media, while further fueling speculation as to whether or not a dream fight with Gennady Golovkin will come to fruition.

Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) – already an unbeaten, unified middleweight titlist – was also the recognized WBC interim titlist, a status he earned following a 2nd round knockout of Marco Antonio Rubio in Oct. ’14. With Alvarez’ announcement came the WBC’s official appointment of Golovkin as its full titlist.

However, the two sides claim to remain in negotiations for a super fight, presumably to take place in September. Because neither side is any longer mandated to negotiate such a fight, it now calls to attention the potential plans for the other sanctioning bodies who’ve been held in limbo.

The World Boxing Association (WBA) recognizes Golovkin as its “Super” champion in the middleweight division, a weight class where three WBA titlists exist. To its credit, the sanctioning boy vowed earlier this year to consolidate its current beltholders and return to a time of just one titlist per weight class.

Such plans would include any combination of two fights between Golovkin, “Regular” titlist Daniel Jacobs and “interim” titlist Alfonso Blanco (12-0, 5KOs) to determine a single WBA middleweight champ.

Any such fights have yet to be ordered, as the WBA made a promise to allow the WBC the opportunity to sanction a super fight between Alvarez and Golovkin. As such, the Panama-based organization has kept its staff out of the way from the moment negotiations were formally ordered on May 9, following separate voluntary defenses made by both.

Its job was made that much easier by the fact that neither Jacobs (31-1, 28KOs) nor Blanco have been particularly vocal in demanding next in line.

“The WBA fully intends to remain true to its word of working in unison with the other sanctioning bodies,” Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, president of the WBA informed BoxingScene.com on Wednesday evening. “So we plan to talk with our friends at the WBC and determine their plans in light of the latest development.”

Alvarez – who won the WBC title following a 12-round decision over Miguel Cotto last November – made the highlight reel with a one-punch, 6th round knockout of Amir Khan on May 7 in Las Vegas. The feat came two weeks after Golovkin annihilated overmatched International Boxing Federation (IBF) mandatory challenger Dominic Wade this past April for the 16th consecutive defense of at least one alphabet title dating back to 2010.

The agreement at the time of their accepting voluntary title defenses was that the two sides had 15 days following the first business day of the latter bout to reach terms or else be subject to a May 24 purse bid hearing.

Alvarez instead opted to give up the WBC crown, as he and promoter Oscar de la Hoya cited their disinterest in being held restricted to “an artificial deadline,” according to an official statement released through the Golden Boy Promotions press office on Wednesday.



However, that same statement also clearly indicated full intentions of continuing negotiations with Golovkin, with both sides hoping for the fight to still be next in queue.

With that, the good folks at the WBA will continue to take a wait-and-see approach before making a final decision, one the sanctioning body promises will be in accordance with its rules while also for the greater good of the sport.

“Our promise was to not stand in the way of Canelo-GGG,” vowed Mendoza. “In spite of the latest news of Canelo relinquishing his title, both sides have publicly announced their commitment to continue negotiations for this super fight.

“The WBA will reevaluate this situation in a week or so, at which point we will be fully prepared to announce our official position.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2