Gennady Golovkin says Mayweather-McGregor will not overshadow fight with Alvarez

Gennady Golovkin has dismissed the idea that Floyd Mayweather’s comeback fight against UFC champion Conor McGregor will overshadow his highly anticipated bout with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.

WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight champion Golovkin faces WBO light-middleweight belt holder Alvarez on 16 September.

Mayweather fights McGregor three weeks earlier in the same city, Las Vegas.

Golovkin insists his contest is the “true boxing fight” as opposed to the “circus show” of Mayweather-McGregor.

“This [Mayweather-McGregor] is not for fighters, but business,” said the 35-year-old Kazakh, who has won all 37 of his fights with 33 by knockout.

“I think people understand what is a true fight, a boxing fight, like mine with Canelo or a big show, maybe sometimes for people a funny show, like a circus show.

“Everybody knows. Conor is not a boxer, just a show. If you want to watch a show please watch them, if you want to watch a true fight, a true boxing fight and you respect boxing, watch my fight with Canelo.

“This is business. Conor with Floyd is not a boxing fight because Conor is not a boxer. Money fight OK, show fight OK.”

Golovkin-Alvarez is one of the most eagerly awaited boxing match-ups in recent memory that will decide the world’s best middleweight.

Golovkin has made 18 consecutive world middleweight title defences and was taken to points for the first time since 2008 by American Daniel Jacobs in March.

Alvarez, 26, has won world titles in two weight divisions with one blemish during a 51-fight career – by a majority points decision to Mayweather in 2013.

The light-middleweight fight between American Mayweather, 40, and Ireland’s McGregor, 28, has been described as a “farce” but could earn both men as much as $100m (£78.4m).

Mayweather, a former five-weight world champion and widely considered the best boxer of his generation, retired unbeaten in 2015 after 49 bouts.

That followed a successful defence of his WBC and WBA welterweight titles, a victory that meant he equalled Rocky Marciano’s career record of 49-0.

McGregor, who has never boxed professionally, became the UFC’s first dual-division champion in November 2016 and has previously challenged Mayweather to a fight under mixed martial arts rules.

His boxing licence was granted by the California State Athletic Commission in December, allowing him to box in the US state.