Tuesday 19 September 2017 12:27, UK
Gennady Golovkin is "unsatisfied” so wants to rematch Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, confirmed his promoter Tom Loeffler, but they will be more vigilant with accepting Nevada-chosen officials for a second fight.
May 5, 2018, on the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo, "makes the most sense" while Golovkin's team have already considered reasons to have judge Adalaide Byrd, who controversially scored last weekend's fight in Canelo's favour, kept off duty for a potential rematch.
Byrd's 118-110 score (effectively giving Canelo 10 out of 12 rounds) coupled with Dave Moretti's 115-113 verdict for Golovkin and Don Trella's 114-114 ensured a draw on Saturday at Vegas' T-Mobile Arena.
We can't put Gennady's career on hold but [a rematch] is the priority.
"Gennady wants to fight before May but, if they commit to a rematch, we'll have to see if that makes sense. We can't put Gennady's career on hold but [a rematch] is the priority," Loeffler exclusively told Sky Sports.
"Gennady wants a rematch because this left an unsatisfied taste. Canelo said he won't fight until May but we have to see if he wants a rematch."
Loeffler confirmed he didn't object to the officials chosen by the Nevada State Athletic Commission last week but, if a rematch were to be held in the same state, he would be more critical.
He also clarified "there was no corruption or collusion" in the judging, and would consider appealing the result depending upon the NSAC's internal investigation into the scoring.
"We wouldn't be hesitant about coming back to Nevada but we'd be more selective with the officials that were assigned," Loeffler said. "[Byrd's] scoring system doesn't fit GGG's style, so that gives an argument not to have her involved.
"I can't blame Vegas. [Trella], who scored a draw, was from the east coast and we've had no problem with him before. The referee Kenny Bayless did an excellent job. So two out of three Vegas officials were fine, the one from the east coast had a draw, then the other [was Byrd].
"If [Trella] didn't have a draw we wouldn't be talking about [Byrd's] scorecard. So we can't put all the blame on Byrd. [Trella] needs to be held accountable too.
"We can appeal if there's a specific reason why a judge shouldn't be selected. Byrd has been appealed against for a Vasyl Lomachenko fight before. I looked at the overall group [last week], and I was OK, although [Golovkin's trainer Abel Sanchez] had concerns with Byrd. I figured that Moretti and Trella had judged several fights of ours in the past. Frankly, so had Byrd and we've never had an issue before so there was no reason to disqualify any of those three officials."
The judging under the NSAC's jurisdiction means Loeffler is reconsidering options for the rematch in other locations that first presented themselves before Vegas was agreed upon.
If there's a rematch Dallas should be at the top of the list. But Madison Square Garden made an offer [for the first fight] that would have been a record gate for New York.
"If there's a rematch Dallas should be at the top of the list," he said. "But Madison Square Garden made an offer [for the first fight] that would have been a record gate for New York.
"After seeing the tremendous atmosphere at Wembley Stadium [for Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko] I was always a fan of going to the AT&T Stadium where we could have sold 100,000 tickets."
Miguel Cotto would be a leading contender to fight Golovkin later this year, should the unbeaten middleweight world champion decide to compete before rematching Canelo, it was confirmed.
