Boxing history is littered with examples of the best-laid plans being left battered on the canvas.

Especially at world level, there is an inherent danger in "marking time" fights.

Although multi-directional promotional disputes and genuine antipathy between the fighters makes a third bout against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez far from cut and dried, it is still the prospect that generates most noise around Gennady Golovkin as the middleweight great prepares for a shot at regaining his old IBF belt against Sergiy Derevyanchenko on Saturday in New York.

"Ask more interesting questions," Golovkin tersely told reporters via an interpreter this week when Alvarez and his jump up to light-heavyweight for a shot at Sergey Kovalev in November became the topic of conversation at a pre-fight briefing.

The reality is there are few things more interesting in boxing in 2019 than the prospect of Golovkin and Alvarez squaring off for another instalment, having shared 24 enthralling, epic rounds so far.

Golovkin – in a not uncommon take – believes he should have been declared the winner of both 2017's split-decision draw and Alvarez's 2018 split-decision victory. His Mexican rival sees things somewhat differently.

"Oscar says many things that make no sense. Gennady Golovkin does not represent anything for me right now," Alvarez told the Los Angeles Times when launching the Kovalev fight.

"He comes from practically fighting a nobody [Golovkin's fourth-round knockout of the unheralded Steve Rolls in June]. He doesn’t represent a challenge that I haven’t had already in our two fights … For me, yes, we are finished."

Big drama away from the ring

The Oscar in question is Alvarez's long-time promoter Oscar De La Hoya, who the fighter publicly questioned after the IBF stripped him of champion status on account of a bout with mandatory challenger Derevyanchenko not being arranged.

Towards the end of Golovkin's preparations to contest the vacant belt with the 33-year-old Ukrainian, De La Hoya told DAZN that GGG "will be" one of Alvarez's opponents for next year.

It is an unhelpful spat but pales next to the ructions behind the scenes that followed Golovkin's first career loss to Alvarez.

The bout against Derevyanchenko has been promoted under the tagline "Big Drama Show" – Golovkin's always smilingly delivered catchphrase as the knockout victims stacked up and he became a star name in the United States.

That famously boyish grin has been harder to spot of late, and not just because the Kazakh puncher turned 37 earlier this year.

Alvarez prevailing, after testing positive for clenbuterol seven months earlier, irked Golovkin, and his actions since suggest a man unwilling to take any perceived injustice, no matter what the consequences.

A $100million six-fight deal with DAZN brought part three of the trilogy closer but changes away from the ring were not done there.

Oleg and Max Hermann, the managers who helmed Golovkin's American adventure, were jettisoned and legal proceedings followed with grim inevitability. Long-time promoter Tom Loeffler remains involved, although the fighter has also linked up with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom operation.

The end of Mexican style

The most shocking change to Golovkin's supporting cast came when he parted with esteemed trainer Abel Sanchez, who ingrained the long-reigning champion's "Mexican style" and presided over the bulk of a shuddering 23-knockout streak.

"It's unfortunate that fighters get to a certain point when it's all 'I' and not 'we'," Sanchez told Behind the Gloves in April. "It was a team effort – it was managers, promoters, the fighter, myself. We all made sacrifices to get to where he's at now."

Sanchez claimed Golovkin offered him reduced pay that he chose not to accept, and added: "When young men get to that level, new advisers get around them and I think because of that I've lost not only a friend but – I feel like – a son."

Johnathon Banks, alumnus of the famed Kronk Gym, who took charge of Wladimir Klitschko's corner when the great Emanuel Steward died, will run Golovkin's corner on Saturday as he did against Rolls. He could have a bigger job on his hands than the oddsmakers suggest.

Derevyanchenko danger

Derevyanchenko has a close 12-round decision against two-time middleweight champion Daniel Jacob in common with Golovkin, only he came out on the losing end.

It is the sole blemish on a late-starting professional career for a product of a Ukrainian amateur setup that is threatening to dominate the modern era through the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk and Oleksandr Gvozdyk.

Even if Alvarez is not up next, Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith, Demetrius Andrade, Jermall Charlo or Jamie Munguia would all represent more attractive assignments than Golovkin's present task and the relatively muted publicity surrounding it. Boxing's cardinal sin of looking past your forthcoming fight feels impossible, which is dangerous when considering Derevyanchenko's obvious pedigree.

Then there are Golovkin's advancing years, the fact he has appeared easier to hit from his 2016 win over Kell Brook onwards – even while dispatching an over-matched Rolls – and the reality that brutal and punishing encounters such as those he shared with Alvarez seldom leave an aging boxer enhanced.

It remains hard to look past Golovkin's shocking power catching up with the naturally smaller Derevyanchenko at some stage this weekend. But during his imperial period in the middle of the decade, fighters entered the ring with two fists and a prayer. Now, amid age and upheaval, the reasons to suspect vulnerability have never been greater.