Bear with me here.
The agreement that made Canelo-GGG 3 possible stipulated that Gennadiy Golovkin, who holds both the IBF and WBA “super” middleweight titles, immediately face WBA “world” champion Erislandy Lara afterwards. By all accounts, there were no other options; Golovkin’s choices were to make a deal by October 23rd, roll the dice on a purse bid, or vacate the title he took from Ryota Murata in April.
Yesterday, however, WBA pissant-in-chief Gilberto Mendoza told Izquierdazo that he and the IBF had passed a joint resolution that would see Golovkin fight IBF mandatory Esquiva Falcao and the winner then meet Lara.
Salvador Rodriguez first brought word of the possibility earlier this month.
It’s unclear how exactly this arrangement came to be, as Mendoza claims that Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KO) was out of exceptions on both sides. My guess is that it came down to recency; Golovkin hasn’t faced an IBF mandatory since smashing Kamil Szeremeta in December 2020.
Thus, Falcao (30-0, 20 KO), who beat Patrice Volny by technical decision in a final eliminator last November, gets the call. Though he boasts an Olympic silver medal, he’s been handled with kid gloves throughout his career, possibly in an attempt to avoid the fate of brother Yamaguchi. He spent the first six years of his pro career fighting genuinely awful competition and his two steps up came against the aging Artur Akavov and the aforementioned Volny, who was doing quite well for himself before their heads collided.
If the Golovkin we saw in the later rounds of his last fight shows up, he should win without issue.
As for Lara, he’s free to take a fight in the interim. He’s been content to clobber guys like “Cornflake” LaManna and Spike O’Sullivan these last few years, so steady as she goes.