Middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin to defend title against Curtis Stevens

WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will defend his title against Curtis Stevens on Nov. 2. (US Presswire)

K2 Promotions and Main Events have an agreement in principle for WBA middleweight champion to Gennady Golovkin to defend his title against Curtis Stevens on November 2nd at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, multiple sources confirmed to SI.com

Responding to a question about a Golovkin fight on Twitter, Stevens said “it’s on.”

The fight will be televised by HBO.

When reached by telephone, Golovkin's trainer, Abel Sanchez, told SI.com that the deal was "almost done" and that the two sides were holding off any announcement until the after Daniel Geale's HBO-televised IBF middleweight title defense against Darren Barker on Saturday night.

A Golovkin-Stevens showdown has been brewing for months. Golovkin (27-0) has been tearing through middleweight contenders, most recently a knockout win over Matthew Macklin in June. With other titleholders unavailable--Geale fights on Saturday, WBC champion Sergio Martinez is sidelined by injury and WBO titleholder Peter Quillin is represented by Golden Boy, a promotional company HBO refuses to do business with. Enter Stevens, a Brooklyn-born power puncher who has been actively campaigning for a Golovkin fight. Since moving down to 160-pounds in January, Stevens (25-3) has knocked out Elvin Ayala and Saul Roman and winning a decision over veteran Derrick Findley.

Using the platform provided by fighting on NBC Sports Network, Stevens has repeatedly called Golovkin out.

"He wasn't my choice, he was just talking so much smack," Sanchez said. "With the fight at being at the Garden, with Stevens being a Brooklyn boy, it made a lot of sense to [K2's] Tom [Loeffler]. He thought it sounds like a great fight. Stevens, he just keeps talking. He thinks he is the next coming of Carlos Monzon."

A formal announcement is expected next week.

Chris Mannix