Mauricio Sulaiman is not sitting in on the meetings where promoters are discussing the possibility of a Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin middleweight title unification bout, but the head of the World Boxing Council is close enough to the talks to have formed a strong opinion on how they’re progressing.

“I am completely confident the fight is going to happen,” Sulaiman told The Times on Tuesday morning. “Both fighters have made it clear they want it. The public, the fans and the press want it.

“It’s the right fight at the right time.”

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Sulaiman has made it abundantly clear that if WBC champion Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 knockouts) opts to decline his mandatory next bout against World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation champion Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) that Alvarez’s belt will be stripped and given to Golovkin.

Alvarez’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, and Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, have met to discuss deal points, and one official familiar with the talks said Alvarez is expected to be briefed on the talks shortly.

“I can tell you that any reports … that there are interim fights being discussed is completely false,” Loeffler told The Times on Tuesday. “We have made it clear to Golden Boy and the WBC that there would be no interim fights or extensions to the purse bid. … Canelo got one interim fight. Now he needs to fight Triple G.”

Sulaiman said he will issue a reminder to the promoters by Friday that they have until May 24 to either strike a deal, or the bout will go to purse bid, where promoters can submit offers to stage the bout, with the highest bid winning the right.


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Sulaiman has not revealed what the purse split would be in a purse-bid scenario, but champion Alvarez will receive substantially more than WBC challenger Golovkin.

Gennady Golovkin knocked out Dominic Wade in the second round on April 23 at The Forum. (Harry How / Getty Images)

“Whether Canelo keeps the title or not is his decision,” Loeffler said.


“Naturally, we would prefer to make the fight, as it is the biggest fight in boxing between two middleweight champions and two of the most marketable fighters in the sport today.”

Kazakhstan’s Golovkin, 34, knocked out Dominic Wade on April 23 in the second round at the Forum to post his 22nd consecutive knockout and 16th straight middleweight title triumph.

Alvarez, 25, followed on May 7 by throwing a devastating right hand that knocked out England’s Amir Khan in the sixth round of the first boxing card at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, drawing more than 500,000 pay-per-view buys and a $7.4 million live gate.

With Golovkin watching from ringside, Alvarez summoned him inside the ring and said he is not afraid to accept the fight, later telling reporters he would fight Golovkin at the middeweight limit of 160 pounds.


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