LAS VEGAS – The Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin trilogy, which produced two classic fights and a couple of controversial decisions, ended with a groan, but at least a definitive conclusion in fight No. 3 on Saturday night against a heavily pro -Alvarez. sold out 19,519 at T-Mobile Arena.
In a fight that paled in terms of action compared to the first two, Alvarez won a clear unanimous decision to retain the undisputed super middleweight title and bounced back from a decision loss to light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in May.
Judge Dave Moretti had it 116-112 and Steve Weisfeld and David Sutherland had it 115-113 for Alvarez in a fight that seemed to dominate much more than the scores indicated. Big Fight Weekend had Álvarez win 119-109, a common ringside media score.
???? King @Canelo #CaneloGGG3 pic.twitter.com/g5ssyHyjDj
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) September 18, 2022
The series, with each fight taking place at T-Mobile Arena and on Mexican Independence Day weekend, began with them as friendly rivals and degenerated into bad blood on both sides. Alvarez talked throughout the promo about how personal the fight was to him because of all the disrespect Golovkin had shown him over the years. But when he finished the fight, they hugged for a long time and left everything behind.
“Thank you very much friend, thank you Golovkin, thank you for everything,” Álvarez said. “We gave the fans three good fights. Thanks for everything
“(Golovkin is) a really good fighter. He is strong. That is why we are here. I’m going to move on, keep my legacy.”
When asked if his problem was solved, Golovkin replied, “Yes, 100 percent.”
The first fight in 2017, for Golovkin’s three world middleweight titles, ended in a hotly contested split draw, most having Golovkin winning and the second fight. A year later, Álvarez won a disputed majority decision to take the GGG belts and end his historic middleweight title reign after a division-record tying 20 successful defenses.
But the bad blood began in the run-up to the second fight, which was delayed because Alvarez failed a drug test and was suspended. He tested positive for a small amount of clenbuterol, which he blamed on contaminated Mexican meat.
All of those storylines created a compelling and highly anticipated third fight, but it didn’t come close to living up to the hype, perhaps because Golovkin looked 40 years old.
“More tactical, like chess” is how Golovkin described the fight compared to their first two total battles. Chapter 3 started with a test round with Canelo testing his jab and Golovkin studying it but not doing much.
Alvarez had repeatedly said he would go for a knockout from the opening bell in hopes of ending GGG’s career, but he knew that wasn’t in the cards almost immediately.
“In the first round, I knew it was tough,” Alvarez said. “He is a tough fighter. I need surgery, my left hand is not good. But I am good. I am a warrior, that is why I am here. I can’t hold a glass. It’s really bad. But I am a warrior.
Alvarez started looking for body shots in the second round and also threw his overhand right but didn’t catch Golovkin cleanly.
As Golovkin remained relatively inactive, Alvarez nailed him with a solid left hook in the fourth, though GGG didn’t budge. Moments later, Alvarez landed a solid right hand to the head.
Alvarez, a four-division champion (58-2-2, 39 KOs), 32, of Mexico, sealed a strong fifth round when he landed an overhand right hand with about 20 seconds left and Golovkin did nothing in return.
With little success in the sixth round, the crowd began to boo as the clock ticked down. Alvarez continued to control the fight in the seventh and landed an overhand right hand to the side of Golovkin’s head that got the crowd pumping.
Finally, in the ninth round, Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs), a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Santa Monica, California, went on the offensive and was successful. He landed a right hand to the head and landed some more solid punches that backed up Alvarez. Alvarez came back in the closing seconds with a combination to the lead, but GGG did enough to win the round.
There was some good two-way action in the 10th round, but it was relative to the overall lack of action in the fight, but Golovkin was closing better than he started.
“I was not surprised. I know him,” Alvarez said of Golovkin’s finish. “He is a strong fighter. For me, I’m happy to share the ring with him. He is a very good fighter. I’m glad to be involved in that kind of fight.” On his relative success in the later rounds, Golovkin said it was due to “his strategy. Second half, I don’t feel bad. It’s a good fight.”
According to CompuBox stats, Alvarez landed 130 of 487 punches (27 percent) and Golovkin landed 120 of 521 (23 percent). Alvarez outpointed Golovkin in every round except the 9th, 10th and 11th. By comparison, in his second Golovkin was 234 of 879 and Alvarez was 202 of 622 and in the first fight Golovkin was 120 of 21 and Alvarez was 130 of 487 .
With the trilogy in the books, both men have clear paths ahead of them.
Alvarez will address his left hand injury and then hopes to face Bivol in a rematch provided Bivol defeats Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez on November 5.
“Of course, the whole world knows it,” Álvarez said. “We will see what happens in that fight (Bivol-Ramirez). I need to rest my body. I need to rest my hand, my body, but I will come back stronger. It is very important for my legacy (to avenge the loss), for my pride, for my country, for my family, for everything. It’s very important. I will beat it.
As for Golovkin, he remains a unified middleweight champion and with no plans to retire he will return to 160 pounds.
“I have a great plan. I have a lot of dates,” Golovkin said. “Congratulations today Canelo, congratulations fans. Remember, I’m still a champion at 160. I’ll be back guys, I’m still a champion. I want to shake hands with Canelo.”
The ugliness and bad blood between them had faded and after 36 rounds in the ring together in three fights over five years, the rivalry was history.
