By: Sean Crose
Here we go again. Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, who remains the most dominant force in boxing despite his recent loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, will once again share the ring with arch-rival Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. . And why not? The first two bouts, while controversial, were excellent affairs. Now, with Golovkin in his 40s and Canelo coming off a loss, both men have something to prove: they’re still relevant. Very relevant. Each fighter has a lot to lose this time, so expect a very strong performance from each on Saturday (as long as Golovkin’s age hasn’t affected it, or Canelo’s recent loss hasn’t affected it).
It’s no surprise that Canelo is the favorite for this weekend. Not only is he considerably younger of the two fighters at thirty-two years of age, but he has also been the more active of the two. The last time he and Golovkin met in the ring was in 2018. Golovkin has only fought four times since, while Canelo has seemingly taken the world by storm, winning titles at super middleweight and light heavyweight, dominating all the while except for his outing against Bivol. last May.
In truth, Bivol may have simply been a bridge too far for Canelo, and there’s no shame in that. However, inactivity can wear down a fighter, especially an aging fighter like Golovkin. Still, don’t expect to see the Kazakh warrior looking too rusty in the ring at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Saturday. This is your chance to put the cherry on top of the impressive ice cream that is his legacy. Don’t be surprised if Golovkin outdoes himself this weekend. As for Canelo, he has not taken well to Golovkin’s insinuations that he is an intentional user of banned substances. He also can’t afford a loss to his arch-rival at this point in his career.
So it’s not much to expect fireworks in Las Vegas this weekend, though you never know in boxing. This will be Golovkin’s debut as a super middleweight, although Canelo’s super middleweight titles (all four) will be on the line, so it will be interesting to see how he carries the extra weight and if his power holds up. Watch to see if Golovkin can find a way to avoid telegraphing right off of him. That is something that Canelo has often been able to effectively measure and avoid. He could make all the difference. As, of course, the judge might. The consensus among fans is that the judges, especially in Las Vegas, love Canelo, and the first two fights between him and Golovkin only added to the charges of bias.
The bottom line: Don’t be surprised if we get another controversial decision, even one in favor of Golovkin. These two have already fought side by side twice. And there really isn’t much hard evidence to expect his third scheduled twelve-round outing to be any different.
