Gennadiy Golovkin will now honor another mandatory ahead of the one that was previously ordered.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the WBA and IBF have reached a joint resolution for Golovkin—who holds the middleweight title for both sanctioning bodies—to next defend against IBF number-one contender Esquiva Falcao. The ruling comes as the 30-day deadline drew near for Golovkin to negotiate terms with secondary WBA middleweight titlist Erislandy Lara for their ordered title consolidation clash.
WBA president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza acknowledged to BoxingScene.com that official notice was forthcoming to explain the official ruling, confirming an earlier report by Izquierdazo.com. Camps representing Golovkin and Falcao were not able to comment since said notice was not yet submitted by the sanctioning bodies.
Golovkin (42-2-1, 37KOs) was previously on the clock to next face Lara, a condition of the granted special permit approved by the WBA allowing the unified middleweight titlist to first face longtime rival Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Their trilogy clash took place September 17 at the super middleweight limit, where Guadalajara’s Alvarez defended his undisputed championship following a lopsided decision win over Golovkin at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
At the time, it was determined that Golovkin was out of exemptions to file to further avoid a title consolidation clash with Lara (29-3-3, 17KOs). The prior ruling called for Golovkin-Lara to take place no later than 120 days upon the completion of Alvarez-Golovkin III.
Apparently, a loophole was exploited with the IBF which allowed Brazil’s Falcao (30-0, 20KOs) to jump the line.
Falcao—a 2012 Olympic Silver medalist—has toiled in relative obscurity since turning pro in February 2014. Two separate wins in Las Vegas in 2021—including a technical decision win over unbeaten Patrice Volny last November 20—saw Falcao advance to the mandatory position in the IBF middleweight rankings.
Just one fight has followed for the 32-year-old southpaw, a ten-round decision victory over Cristian Fabian Rios on May 29 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Golovkin inherited Lara as a mandatory challenger following his ninth-round knockout of Ryota Murata in their IBF/WBA unification bout on April 9 at Saitama Arena in Saitama, Japan. Murata hadn’t fought since December 2019, yet managed to not only retain his secondary WBA title status but receive an upgrade to WBA ‘Super’ champ during his downtime.
Golovkin regained the IBF title following a twelve-round decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in their October 2019 vacant title fight. He has since made a mandatory defense of that title, a seventh-round knockout of Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta in December 2020.
Lara the WBA ‘World’ (Regular) middleweight title following a first-round knockout of Thomas ‘Conflake’ LaManna last May 1 in Carson, California. He opted to retain the title while vacating his secondary version of the WBA junior middleweight title that he held from August 2019 through last summer. His lone defense of the middleweight belt came in an eighth-round knockout of Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan on May 28 in Brooklyn, New York.
The forthcoming resolution will reveal that Lara can now enter a voluntary defense of his title, with the assurance that he will be granted a shot at the winner. That, of course, will be dependent upon Golovkin-Falcao materializing and the victor not opting to vacate the WBA title. Both sanctioning bodies insist that Golovkin is out of special permit exceptions.
Plans for Lara’s next fight are not immediately known. The Cuban export is represented by Premier Boxing Champions, which presently doesn’t have any 2022 dight dates confirmed beyond a November 5 Showtime card from The Armory in Minneapolis. To date, Lara is not scheduled to appear on that show.
Upon receipt of the joint ruling by the IBF and WBA, negotiations are expected to begin between Golovkin—who guides his own career through his own GGG Promotions—and Falcao, who is promoted by Top Rank.