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RADP / Pulse Ghana  >  Sports  >  Boxing

Golovkin eyes London return against Billy Joe Saunders

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After seeing off Kell Brook in a thriller at the O2 Arena, unified middleweight king Gennady Golovkin has WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders in his sights.

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Golovkin moved his perfect and fearsome career record to 33 knockouts from 36 wins with a fifth-round stoppage of Kell Brook at London's O2 Arena on Saturday.

The 34-year-old's WBC and IBF belts were on the line against Brook, the IBF welterweight ruler who stepped up two division to skilfully and courageously ask questions of the most destructive puncher in boxing.

The WBA title and more lightly regarded IBO strap are also in Golovkin's possession and he has designs on Brook's compatriot Billy Joe Saunders and the WBO belt to complete the set.

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"I'm ready for everybody," he said. "My goal is all the belts in the middleweight division. I want a unification – Billy Joe Saunders.

"Absolutely [I would come back to London]. The atmosphere – I love it, I love it. I'm a huge fan of London, absolutely.

"First of all Billy Joe Saunders or Canelo. It doesn't matter."

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez continues to loom large around Golovkin's self-styled "big drama show", especially after the Mexican favourite relinquished his WBC crown as opposed to facing his Kazakh rival when ordered to do so earlier this year.

Alvarez is back at light-middleweight next weekend in a bid to unseat Liverpool's WBO champion Liam Smith in Arlington, Texas.

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Golovkin hopes the sight of him shipping spiteful hooks and uppercuts from Brook during four brutally captivating rounds, before the Sheffield fighter's brave challenge was hastened by a fractured right eye socket, might give Alvarez enough incentive to share a ring with him after all.

"I hope in the future. Hopefully, maybe after today, he's ready. I hope, seriously, I want this fight," he added.

First, a tangle within boxing's absurd alphabet soup must be negotiated, with the WBA mandating its "regular" champion Danny Jacobs to face Golovkin after the New Yorker enjoyed a seven-round win over Sergio Mora on Friday.

Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler knows Jacobs' mandatory status is no guarantee the fight will happen and also has Saunders in his sights, despite have previously negotiated unsuccessfully with the Beijing Olympian.

"Just because the WBA orders it doesn't mean he is going to take the fight, doesn't mean we can make the fight," he said. "The WBC mandated Canelo.

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"If that fight doesn't go then a unification fight would be top of the list."

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