Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan explains why he pulled out of Golovkin running

A continually declining amount of money on offer proved the last straw and forced Gary O’Sullivan to pull out of the running to face Gennady Golovkin on May 5th.

After a number of light middleweight options were knocked back by the powers that be, it looked as if ‘Spike’ was a cert to secure his dream bout with the three-belt World champion.

Indeed, Irish-Boxing.com believe that as recent as last Tuesday night the Cork middleweight, was confident of confirmation and was excited – if a little tired from a week of thinking he was set to replace Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez before other rumoured options were reported – by the prospect of trading serious leather with the feated 160lbs fighter.

However, by late Wednesday the Murphys Boxing middle had pulled himself out of the running.

Speaking to SiriusXM Radio the Mahon fighter explained money proved the decisive factor. 

O’Sullivan had agreed to the general offer Team ‘GGG’ put out for potential replacements. That offer was less than half what the Paschal Collins-trained fighter was rumoured to be receiving for his proposed September showdown with Canelo, yet the Cork man remained happy to go ahead with the fight because of the number of titles he stood to win.

However, when the show was removed from pay-per-view and the venue changed, the purse dropped again and O’Sullivan and his team felt it best to pull out of the race.

“Money-wise it’s not on PPV and the fight’s not worth the money that it should be,” said O’Sullivan.

“They dragged it out for over a week and we got nothing official. And the money kept on diminishing as well.

“They made an initial offer I agreed to then they came back with half of that.”

The prolonged and saga nature of who would step up to replace Mexican, Canelo was said to be affecting ‘Spike’ and that may have played a part in the decision to draw a line in the sand. The Mahon man was in training for a May 4th date, but none of his camp or sparring was Golovkin specific and it seems that short lead-in time played on his mind too.

Regardless ‘Spike’ did show his ‘GGG’ willingness and claims he would love the fight once the finances and the lead in time were right.

“It’s better to stick to the plans we have now. I’d love to fight [Golovkin] down the road with a bit more notice and more money.”

“I was very excited [when first asked about the fight]… Ken [Casey] called me and asked me would I take the fight and I said absolutely, but I think they were looking to get a junior middleweight instead of me, looking toward a safer option.”

O’Sullivan will still headline a Golden Boy on ESPN card on Friday May 4th. The Celtic Warriors man had been initially preparing for this fight before the pull-out of Canelo from the Golovkin match-up.

This May 4th date was initially pencilled in Las Vegas to dovetail with Golovkin-Canelo but O’Sullivan’s promoter Murphys Boxing have stated that a bill at the StubHub Centre in Los Angeles is now in the works.

This fight was believed to be building towards a fight between O’Sullivan and Canelo in September on Mexican Independence Weekend. Indeed, with Canelo expected to get a six-month ban backdated to mid-February, this could still be the case.

“I’d love to fight him with a bit more notice and more money.” — @spike_osullivan explains how a potential showdown with GGG fell through on May 5th. @murphysboxing @DropkickMurphys @KenDKM #boxing #CaneloGGG2 pic.twitter.com/KLkjTGQr6S

— SiriusXM Boxing (@SiriusXMBoxing) April 14, 2018