Golovkin and Derevyanchenko Battle Over IBF Exception - Title Likely At Stake

Counsel for Unified Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin and IBF No.1 mandatory contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko (Derev) have submitted their arguments to the IBF on an appeal made by Golovkin's team of the Exception the IBF issued on April 27 and clarified on May 1.  Golovkin is being represented on appeal by veteran boxing attorney Patrick English.  Derevyanchenko is repped by DiBella Entertainment's counsel Alex Dombroff.

The IBF's Exception allowed Golovkin to fight Vanes Martirosyan on May 5 and still retain his IBF title even though the IBF refused to sanction the bout.  The Exception also gave Golovkin 90 days from May 5 within which to fight Derev (deadline Friday, August 3, 2018).  The May 1 clarification left open the possibility that Golovkin could fight a unification bout with Canelo (?!) that would not require an exception.  This appears to be an error in the clarification as Canelo does not hold a title belt of a sanctioning body recognized by the IBF (only the WBA, WBC and WBO are so recognized).  Presumably, Golovkin could sneak in a fight with WBO Champion Billy Joe Saunders though ahead of Derev.

Nonetheless, Golovkin's counsel argued that IBF Rule 11G allowed him as the "affected participant" of a granted Exception the right to appeal.  Counsel further argued that the IBF misconstrued the application for Exception as one to avoid the mandatory obligation, when in fact, it was solely to allow the unsanctioned bout.

One of the main points Golovkin's counsel tried to drive home was that unified champions make mandatory defenses using a rotational system where each sanctioning body's mandatory is made in turn and the traditional time limits on mandatory defenses defer to that system.  Counsel argued that the IBF's mandatory is not due as the WBC is next.  Because the Canelo bout was delayed, the WBC mandatory is still the next one due.  Even if the Canelo bout had taken place on May 5, counsel reasoned that IBF Rule 5E states "the mandatory due date of the IBF Champion will be nine (9) months from the completion of the mandatory bout for the World Organization ahead of the IBF in line."

Golovkin's counsel also argued that the 90-day deadline violates IBF rules for the timing of negotiations and purse bids as the combined time allotted in the rules would exceed 90 days.  Counsel also noted that Golovkin is an innocent party who should not be punished for Canelo's sins.

In their reply papers, Derev's counsel argued that Golovkin did not have standing to appeal under Rule 11G as the "affected participant" referred to in the rule is Derev, not Golovkin.  Rule 11C refers to an "applicant" and an "affected participant" and counsel noted that the IBF reached out to Derev to allow him to respond to the application for Exception, thus designating Derev the "affected participant".

Beyond the standing issue, Derev's counsel disputed that the WBC mandatory was still due in the rotational system and not the IBF's.  Counsel argued that Canelo was the WBC mandatory and when he was rendered unavailable, Golvokin was allowed by the WBC to fight Martirosyan instead.  If the WBC were to get a second bite at the mandatory apple, there is a real possibility that it can be delayed again, in which case Derev would be forced to wait even longer.  Counsel argued that this is just a thinly veiled attempt to preserve the lucrative Canelo rematch without having to satisfy the IBF mandatory obligation.

Derev's counsel then addressed the alleged violation of IBF rules by the Exception's 90-day deadline.  Counsel pointed out that under Rule 11D, the IBF Board had discretion to determine "what conditions shall apply" in deciding the Exception.  Counsel also cited previous Exceptions where the Board had set similar 90-day deadlines.  Counsel also gave an example where Golovkin fought twice within a 90-day span on HBO to demonstrate the ability to make the fight within those time constraints.

Derev's counsel concluded by arguing that Derev is also an innocent party and should not have to wait any longer to receive his shot.  Counsel also argued that Golovkin is not entitled under IBF rules to receive two Exceptions to avoid his mandatory obligation.

The hearing to decide Golovkin's appeal is scheduled for May 22.

See Golovkin's Letter below:


See Derevyanchenko's Letter below:

Boxing Podcast With Attorney Rick Collins

My guest on this podcast is Rick Collins, a founding partner at the law firm of Collins, Gann McCloskey & Barry.  Rick practices in the area of sports nutrition and PEDs and is one of the foremost attorneys in the area of anti-doping law.   

We spoke about the recent doping cases involving Canelo Alvarez and Alexander Povetkin, as well as what an ideal anti-doping program in boxing would look like.  It was a great conversation - enjoy!

To check out Rick's site that tracks developments in doping law go to www.steroidlaw.com.  You can look Rick up at his firm Collins, Gann McCloskey & Barry.

Enjoy the podcast.  You can listen to it on Soundcloud or subscribe to the podcast on either iTunes or Stitcher.  Please leave a comment or a rating, I would very much appreciate it.

Thoughts on GGG-Canelo

Excellent fight on Saturday night between two of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, WBC, WBA and IBF Middleweight Champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin and former WBC Middleweight Champ Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.  The general consensus seems to be that GGG should have gotten the decision.  However, the back and forth nature of many of the rounds made it difficult to score and the draw verdict was not a completely unjust one.  I scored the fight 115-113 (7-5 in rounds) for GGG.  One of the official judges Adalaide Byrd scored it 118-110 for Canelo.  Her card seems to be an outlier as most folks in press row seemed to have it 115-113 or 116-112 for GGG, with a few scoring it 115-113 for Canelo.

Below is a breakdown of the scoring totals of the official judges scorecards, as well as my own:

A few observations on what went down:

• As mentioned above, judge Adalaide Byrd had a card that was an outlier from not only her two fellow judges but most of the viewing public and even the fighter she scored it for (in the post-fight interview, Canelo stated that he won 7 or 8 rounds - Byrd gave him 10).  She definitely has some history as an outlier who scores fights wider than or contrary to her fellow judges. As recently as June of this year, she scored the Eddie Ramirez - Erick Bone fight 7-3 for Bone, as the other judges had it 7-3 Ramirez prompting the commentators to ask "What was Adalaide Byrd looking at?"  She had Errol Spence up 7-3 vs. Kell Brook in a fight most had close to even in rounds going into the 11th and final round. In December 2016, she had Richard Commey beating Denis Shafikov 8-4 in an IBF eliminator but was overruled by her two fellow judges. Also in 2016, in what was a real head scratcher, she somehow had Maurice Hooker beating Darlys Perez 7-3 in a fight most everyone in press row and at home had Perez winning handily. In other words, this is not the first time she's scored a fight way out of line with the majority. Top Rank, apparently, objected to her as a judge for the Vasyl Lomachenko-Nicholas Walters, though the NSAC still allowed her to judge the fight. I'm pretty sure K2/GGG Promotions wish they had objected as well in hindsight.
• GGG looked really tight in the early going and, despite the exhortations of Abel Sanchez, completely ignored Canelo's body for nearly the entire fight. According to an ESPN statistical breakdown of the fight, GGG only landed 8 body shots for the entire fight. That is not a misprint. He also connected on only 31% of his total punches, way down from his norm of 40%. His headhunting cost him accuracy and did not slow Canelo and allowed him to get that second wind and come on down the stretch. I'm sure Abel will chide him during film study for the rematch that to slow down Canelo - he needs to pay more attention to landing those lethal body shots. Ask Matthew Macklin what a difference maker GGG's body shots are.
• Canelo surprised me with how superior his hand speed was to GGG's. He was able to beat GGG to the punch time and again and looked like he could have stood in and traded a little more. Canelo made a huge tactical error in my estimation by constantly going idle and letting GGG get off for sometimes minutes at a time in rounds. Canelo often started rounds by landing crisp clean combinations on GGG but then would practically give the rest of the round away. Obviously, a big part of that was stamina but also poor tactics. This was a very winnable fight for Canelo. He needs to study the tapes of Hagler-Leonard or Ali-Frazier II to learn how to get his shots off and then tie up to get his rest - as opposed to aimlessly dancing and settling on the ropes. By clinching, instead of falling into the ropes, Canelo could have muted GGG's rallies and caught a breather in order to mount his next quick-handed volley. We'll see if he makes this adjustment in the inevitable rematch.