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The boxing world hoped for the best. There was always the possibility that a slower, older Gennadiy Golovkin would be a lot less than he was in 2017 and 2018. On Saturday, Alvarez-Golovkin III didn’t produce the fireworks that made his first two meetings.
Golovkin was still good enough for a late push to turn what had been a dull, dull fight into something interesting, beginning around the last minute of the eighth round. Alvarez slowed down and Golovkin found some fortune with the hook, backing up Alvarez several times. It was like watching The Temptations decades after they topped the charts.
The notes might not have been as sharp, the moves not as sharp, but at the end of the fight, Alvarez and Golovkin hit the punches and delivered some of what the spectators saw.
In the end, a series on scorecards and performance gave us two more doozies with a couple of judges (David Sutherland, Steve Weisfeld) finding five rounds for Golovkin. No, those scores still aren’t as bad as Adelaide Byrd’s in the first fight 118-110 (ten rounds for Alvarez), but two questionable cards are too many.
Following a loss to Dmitry Bivol at light heavyweight, Alvarez’s job was to defend the super middleweight title and ultimately defeat Golovkin without debate. It was a mission accomplished. Alvarez used his speed to outjab Golovkin and mainly used single shots to the head and body to handcuff his foe.
It didn’t have to be a big fight and it wasn’t. The result was clear, however, and now everyone knows the window has closed on a saga that truly began the night Alvarez won the lineal middleweight crown from Miguel Cotto. Golovkin may not have received (officially) the result that polished his career as the best middleweight of his era, but he got the monster paydays that eluded him for a long time.
Álvarez reached his prime during the years of the rivalry, elevating his recognition as a professional and securing his place among the legends of Mexican boxing. Alvarez may not be the best his home country has ever produced, but his name will be in those conversations long after we’re gone.
His name will also continue to appear in conversations for the foreseeable future.
Futures: Alvarez said that after the fight he will take a break. Now 32, the guess here is that the hiatus won’t extend beyond Cinco de Mayo weekend in 2023. Keen eyes will turn to Bivol’s light heavyweight defense against Gilberto Ramirez later this year. Alvarez said that he still wants that rematch. Bivol has a living opponent and he has a real task ahead of him.
The trusted brains around Alvarez may want to encourage him to look elsewhere if Bivol retains. The younger, longer, bigger Bivol is likely to be better off in a comeback and his first fight wasn’t exactly a barn. There is also the case of the crown that Álvarez wears.
Alvarez is the undisputed super middleweight champion. At some point, he should defend those unified titles against a super middleweight. The consensus No. 1 threat is David Benavidez, and Benavidez has a style that fits anyone. It’s a potential fight of the year if it can be done and while Alvarez has mocked it, history indicates we could get there anyway. Alvarez has gotten so used to fighting guys that his critics insist he won’t fight, even if he sometimes makes them wait.
Alvarez was also never going to face Mayweather, Lara or Golovkin, right? He did it and there will be no ever here about Benavidez.
For Golovkin, retirement wouldn’t be such a bad idea, but after the fight he insisted he would stick with his middleweight titles (he has two). If his goal remains to finally unify the crown, a tall order at 40, there are two fights to be made. One is likely to pay a lot more at this point.
Janibek Alimkhanuly holds the WBO belt and would present a young physical challenge. The biggest matchup, and the one that could best fuel future superfights, would be a showdown with WBC champion Jermall Charlo. Even after Saturday, Golovkin-Charlo would be a potential stadium show. Golovkin doesn’t look like he can win that fight yet, but he would pack a punch.
Cliff’s Notes…
Jesse Rodriguez was very busy with Israel Gonzalez, a good reminder that the 22-year-old is not as good as he will be. Those rounds will serve you well in the future. The talent gap was too hard for a determined Gonzalez to bridge, but he put in a lot of effort…Ali Akhmedov looked good against Gabe Rosado, but we won’t know what his ceiling is until he sees real resistance again…Joe Joyce -Joseph Parker must be a lot of fun this weekend.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Classification Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be contacted at [email protected]
