GGG vs. Steve Rolls (Say Who?) is On; Lemieux vs. Ryder is Off

Yesterday (April 16) in a story submerged by a bigger story that broke later in the day — namely Jarrell Miller’s failed drug test — it was announced that Team Gennady Golovkin had selected Steve Rolls as GGG’s next opponent. GGG vs. Rolls is a go for June 8 at Madison Square Garden.

There was a collective groan when the pairing was announced. It was widely understood that GGG would go soft in advance of a likely third meeting with Canelo Alvarez in September, but choosing Rolls (pictured on the left against Demond Nicholson) was seen as tantamount to fighting an exhibition. The bookies will likely install GGG a 100/1 favorite, which in the old days was shorthand for a newspaper line, meaning a line crafted for conversation purposes only. Even today, with off-shore sports books jockeying for market share, no sensible bookie would take a straight wager on this fight save perhaps a peanut from a steady client as a courtesy to keep him in the fold.

Both Golovkin and Rolls had birthdays this month. GGG turned 37; Rolls 35.

Rolls, a Canadian, was reportedly 83-14 as an amateur. He’s undefeated as a pro (19-0, 10 KOs), but a casual fan wouldn’t recognize the name of any of his opponents with the possible exception of the aforementioned Nicholson. Rolls won an 8-round split decision over Nicholson (currently 23-3-1) in Verona, NY, in June of 2017. The verdict was controversial. The “ShoBox” broadcasting trio of Barry Tompkins, Steve Farhood, and Raul Marquez all had it 77-74 for the other guy, giving Nicholson the last six rounds.

Rolls is promoted by Lou DiBella who was in Full Damage Control mode when he addressed members of the press. “Steve Rolls is not some bum,” DiBella was quoted as saying. “Steve Rolls can fight. He doesn’t deserve this disrespect he’s getting on social media.”

That elicited this snarky retort (which I paraphrase) from a writer on an internet forum: “If Lou DiBella was in the business of selling bologna sandwiches, he would tell you it was ribeye.”

Golovkin vs. Rolls will reportedly be contested at the catchweight of 164 pounds. We would guess that when GGG-Canelo III finally transpires, it too will be contested at 164. Canelo weighed 167 ¼ for his last match against Rocky Fielding. Plus, the third meeting will be a mega-fight regardless of whether any title is at stake.

GGG vs. Rolls can be seen as the downside of the great flurry of professional boxing that has accompanied the live-streaming transmutation. Whenever an industry experiences rapid growth – when there is a sudden need for more manpower – there’s usually a lag before there are enough qualified applicants to fill all the slots.

That may be overstating it. The main reason that fight fans don’t get the fights they want to see is because of a lack of cooperation between the major promotional groups. Moreover, as for marquee fighters choosing soft opponents, that’s been going on forever. Joe Louis defended his title eight times in the 15 months leading up to his first encounter with Billy Conn. In the aggregate, his opponents were so hopelessly outclassed that sportswriters adopted the term “Bum of the Month.”

Lemieux-Ryder Goes Poof

It hasn’t been a good week for Eddie Hearn. Hearn promotes John Ryder who was slated to fight David Lemieux on May 4. The match between Lemieux (40-4, 34 KOs) and Ryder (27-4, 15 KOs) was penciled in as the chief undercard bout on the Canelo-Jacobs PPV card at the T-Mobile Arena. But Lemieux injured his hand in sparring and has been forced to pull out.

There was little sympathy for David Lemieux when he withdrew from his Dec. 15 bout with Taureano Johnson at the 11^th hour because of severe dehydration. He should have managed his weight better. However, this is a bad break for him and it’s hard not to sympathize. A fan-friendly fighter, Lemieux would have been making his first start as a super middleweight and, barring a mishap, would have energized an already strong 168-pound division.

Golden Boy Promotions, which is orchestrating the May 4 event, has had some strong undercards over the years but not on their biggest shows. The undercard for Canelo-GGG II was very weak.

As it now stands, the new co-feature on May 4 pits Vergil Ortiz against Mauricio Herrera. That simply won’t cut it, a situation that isn’t lost on the Golden Boy matchmakers who are reportedly working overtime to find a new co-feature.  Let’s hope they find a good one.

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