By Robert Segal: Eddie Hearn believes Canelo Alvarez can go a long way to regaining his No. 1 pound-for-pound ranking in the sport by stopping Gennadiy Golovkin this Saturday.
As Hearn says, Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) wants to end the career of the 40-year-old Golovkin in their trilogy fight this Saturday, September 17 on the DAZN pay-per-view at T-Mobile Arena. from Las Vegas.
From the way Golovkin talks, Canelo could end his career just by beating him by decision, since GGG sounds like he’s on the back foot and might retire if he loses.
If Golovkin wins, the opportunity for another big payday against Canelo in a fourth fight would be too much for him to resist. That would be Canelo’s second loss in a row, and he would want revenge to try and redeem himself.
A win for Golovkin would make for an interesting story, as few boxing fans give him any chance at victory against the 32-year-old Canelo.
But when you look at how tired and sluggish Canelo looked in his recent loss to Dmitry Bivol on May 7, you can’t rule out the possibility of a win for Golovkin.
If Golovkin is a quick study, he should have no problem copying the fighting style Bivol displayed and replicating it on Saturday against Canelo.
The problem with Golovkin is that he hasn’t shown adaptability in his two fights against Canelo. Golovkin fought the same way in both fights and didn’t learn from the first fight what works and what doesn’t against Canelo.
Bivol was smart and figured out from watching the two Canelo-Golovkin fights how to beat Canelo, and he used that approach to perfection last May to defeat him by a 12-round decision.
“Both guys are desperate to win, and because of the rivalries you forget it’s for the undisputed super middleweight championship,” Eddie Hearn told Boxing Social of this Saturday night’s trilogy fight between the undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.
“Not much [different about this fight than the two previous Canelo vs. Golovkin fights]. Same fighters, granite chins, and they can both pack punches. They’re both incredibly tough, and they’re both incredibly gifted.
“I think there is going to be a lot more aggression in this fight. I think Gennadiy Golovkin feels in his mind: ‘I’m rolling all the dice there are to roll. I am giving every blow of my soul in this fight to try and win this fight.’
“Canelo Alvarez, at some point, wants to stop Gennadiy Golovkin. He wants to finish his career, according to his words. So neither of them is going to back down.
“I think you’re going to see a very aggressive fight, I think you’re going to see a very brutal fight, and I think you’re going to see the guys negotiating the fight. I think in 168; Gennadiy Golvokin will do very well.
“He’s been doing 160 for 15 or 16 years. I think it’s going to be incredibly durable in weight. He has a granite chin anyway, but I think both guys are going to take a lot of punishment in this fight.
“I don’t think so because he’s a very determined character,” Hearn said when asked if Canelo’s recent loss to Dmitry Bivol would be on his mind. “You can always use the excuse of weight at 175, but he lost. When he came back from the Mayweather loss.
“His team was saying that he [Canelo] came back with a different spite in the [Alfredo] Angle fight. He has that spite again. I told him, ‘You look smart,’ and he said, ‘More than smart.’ His neck is like this.
“I’ve seen the way he trains in this camp. She has given everything. He wants to go back and recover. He is a very proud man. The loss to Bivol made people question that he was as good as we made him, that we put him on a pedestal.
“He wants to be pound for pound #1. Pound for pound king is his nickname, and really, he lost it when he lost to Bivol. He wants to get back on his feet and show the world that he is pound for pound.
“By stopping Gennadiy Golovkin, that would go a long way to regaining that position. I also love Gennadiy Golovkin, so I don’t want to make a prediction.
“I don’t think it will last 12 rounds because I think the fight will be too intense and too brutal to see these guys soak it up this time for 12 rounds. I think it’s going to be a thriller,” Hearn said.
