Golovkin Extends Deal with HBO

Before Gennady Golovkin took care of business in the ring, took care of his financial business.

Contract Extension

Last Friday, Gennady Golovkin and HBO signed a multi-fight contract extension that would call for at least a minimum of four more fights. The deal gives HBO the continued exclusive rights to broadcast Golovkin’s bouts thru HBO and HBO PPV. According to Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, the new deal also includes provisions for overseas fights and Pay-per-view fights. Loeffler added that the deal could involve more than four fights.

Saturday’s bout against Geale was supposed to be the last bout of their old contract. But after they signed the new one last Friday, it became the first fight of the extended contract as the old one was immediately terminated.

HBO refused to make comments on Golovkin’s deal, saying that “it won’t make statements on multi-fight deals.” HBO made that same stand when they recently signed Sergei Kovalev and Manny Pacquiao to similar deals.

Rising Star

Golovkin made his first appearance with HBO in September 2012. Since then, the Kazakh star has compiled a 7-0 record with all wins coming by way of knockout. He has seen his stock steadily rise from a virtual unknown punching machine into the new Mike Tyson of this era. Since then, Golovkin has become one of HBO’s biggest stars and one worth securing.

Golovkin proved HBO correct by coming into Madison Square Garden last Saturday and dominating former middleweight champion Daniel Geale for three rounds before knocking him out with a single devastating punch. Golovkin looked every bit HBO’s star last Saturday as he continues his meteoric rise to boxing superstardom.

Figures are Down

But according to Nielsen Media Research, the viewership for Golovkin’s last fight slightly dropped. Although it was the eight most viewed fight of the year, the main event only averaged 984,000 viewers as compared to its peak of 1,084,000 during Saturday.

The figures were a significant drop from Golovkin’s November 2013 bout with Curtis Stevens which averaged 1.41M viewers. Those figures were the highest in Golovkin’s stint with HBO. But just as when everyone was saying that he is boxing’s next big star, Nielsen says the decrease in numbers could prove otherwise.

But HBO dismissed that and pointed out to the timing of the fight. HBO executives say that the schedule landed in the dead end of summer where the viewership has been historically low. They also pointed that while Geale was a ring worthy opponent, his Australian background did little help to promote the bout.

A Dillema

Golovkin’s knockouts have been sensational for the fans and the sport of boxing. But it can’t be denied that the brevity of his bouts can lead to decrease in viewership. The TV audience grows as the fight goes deeper and into the later rounds, but if Golovkin continues to mow down the opposition as quickly as he did last Saturday, there is no opportunity to grow that audience. It’s a dilemma that comes along with such unique and special talent.