Golovkin promoter sees no ‘backlash’ from Mayweather-Pacquiao fight

Is life going to be harder for boxing promoters and managers to generate business in the wake of the outcome of last week’s Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao megafight?

Tom Loeffler, managing director of K2 Promotions, doesn’t think so, especially since he has one of the sport’s biggest stars in middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.

Golovkin will fight Willie Monroe Jr. on Saturday in Inglewood, Calif., and the World Boxing Association and interim World Boxing Council champion is expected to draw a large crowd at the Forum for his bout on HBO.

“I don’t think there’ll be a backlash,” Loeffler said. “I think Gennady’s proven that he provides excitement and comes to fight every time, and when somebody tunes in or buys a ticket, they always come away with a sense of excitement. He’s a breath of fresh air for boxing fans.”

Loeffler said he thinks boxing won’t be severely impacted in a negative way by Mayweather-Pacquiao, a fight Mayweather won by unanimous decision that left fans disappointed because of its lack of excitement.

“I think the exposure to boxing was a net win for it,” he said. “I think fans may have been disappointed that paid a lot of money to actually see it live or maybe on the pay per view. That’s where you really saw the disappointment of the fans.

“But I think, again, when you see somebody that’s exposed to the sport of boxing and they follow up two weeks later or even one week later. You’ve got Canelo (Alvarez) coming up, and then a week later, you have Gennady coming back to the ring. It just creates an appreciation for those fans that are exposed to the sport for having an exciting fight in the ring.”

Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) knocked out James Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) in the third round Saturday in Houston.

Golovkin (32-0, 29 knockouts) said he intends to be his usual busy self against Monroe (19-1, six KOs), a southpaw who has won nine straight fights. Last year, he won the eight-man ESPN Boxcino middleweight tournament.

“This is a big test for me,” Golovkin said. “I want to show everybody I can beat any style. It doesn’t matter. Strong guy, tall guy, short guy, anybody.”

■ KOVALEV AT MANDALAY — Light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev will make his next title defense July 18 against Nadjib Mohammedi of France at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The 12-round fight, which will be for Kovalev’s WBA, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization belts, will be televised on HBO.

“We’re so excited to have Sergey fight in Las Vegas,” said his promoter, Main Events CEO Kathy Duva. “It’s time for him to fight on the big stage.”

The 32-year-old Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) stopped Jean Pascal in the eighth round of their title fight March 14 in Montreal.

Mohammedi (37-3, 27 KOs) scored a sixth-round technical knockout over Lee Campbell that night on the undercard. The 30-year-old is the IBF’s No. 1-ranked contender.

Kovalev has fought once in Las Vegas. In 2011, he knocked out Douglas Okola in the second round at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Mohammedi will be making his first appearance in Las Vegas.

■ LOU FIRES BACK — In the wake of Golden Boy’s $300 million antitrust lawsuit against adviser/manager Al Haymon that was filed Wednesday, one promoter took a bit of umbrage with the litigation.

Lou DiBella, who has worked with Golden Boy and Haymon Boxing, said the suit had no basis for fact.

“My biggest problem is the hypocrisy on the part of Golden Boy,” DiBella said. “They did exactly the same thing for years, and no one said they were violating the (Muhammad) Ali Act or antitrust laws. Now they’re going after Haymon?

“It’s laughable. I did the April 11 show in Brooklyn, and we did better numbers that night than Golden Boy did when it had an exclusive three-year deal with the Barclays Center. I’m very happy to do business with Al Haymon and to do business with HBO and with Showtime.”

DiBella said he’ll defend himself when he has to.

“I’m not going to have another company take pokes at me,” he said. “What they put out there in that press release was inaccurate, and I guess what I’m trying to say is that when you’re in a glass house, you shouldn’t throw stones.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.