LAS VEGAS – This time there was no discussion of Canelo Alvarez’s win over Gennadiy Golovkin.
The Mexican superstar undoubtedly outboxed his rival in their third fight on Saturday night to effectively end one of the greatest boxing rivalries of the 21st century. Alvarez was busier, more accurate, hit harder and just plain better in every way than the 40-year-old Golovkin in their 12-round, 168-pound championship match at T-Mobile Arena.
Judges Dave Moretti (116-112), David Sutherland (115-113) and Steve Weisfeld (115-113) scored their fight for Alvarez, although he appeared to win by greater distances.
The differences between the 32-year-old Alvarez and an older, slower Golovkin since they last saw each other four years ago and on Saturday night were stark.
Golovkin recovered briefly during the ninth round, but Alvarez had already built a seemingly insurmountable lead on the scorecards at that point. Alvarez also came back strong in the 10th and 11th rounds to make Golovkin wary of his power, though Golovkin had moments from him in those rounds as well.
Alvarez de Guadalajara (58-2-2, 39 KOs), who told DAZN’s Chris Mannix in his post-fight interview that he will need surgery on his left hand, retained his IBF, WBA super middleweight titles. , the WBC and the WBO at the finish. of his trilogy. He, too, rebounded from his one-sided 12-round unanimous decision loss to undefeated WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena.
“He’s a really good fighter,” Alvarez told Mannix. “He is strong and a great fighter, and that is why we are here. And I’m happy to share the ring with him. … I was not surprised. I know he is a strong fighter and he does not surprise me. For me, I’m happy to share the ring and we gave the fans three really good fights.”
Álvarez’s second official win over Golovkin was his most convincing.
The four-division champion outpointed Golovkin by majority decision in their 12-round middleweight championship rematch in September 2018 at T-Mobile Arena. They fought for a highly controversial split draw almost exactly a year earlier at T-Mobile Arena.
Golovkin claimed he won both of his 160-pound title fights, but this loss to his rival is indisputable.
Despite his decisive loss on Saturday night, Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) declared before facing Alvarez for the third time that he will continue his career. He made his debut at 168 pounds on Saturday night, but still holds the IBF, IBO and WBA middleweight titles.
“I have a lot left,” Golovkin said. “Congratulations to Canelo, to all the fans. Remember, I have three belts at 160 and I’m still a champion. … Congratulations to Canelo and his entire team. He is a true warrior.”
CompuBox unofficially credited Alvarez for landing just 10 more punches overall than Golovkin (130 for 487 to 120 for 521).
Alvarez landed almost twice as many power shots (85 of 217 to 46 of 171). CompuBox credited Golovkin for landing 29 more punches (74 for 350 to 45 for 270).
It was clear as round 12 began that Alvaerz and Golovkin would go the distance. The final round included more clinch than any of the previous 11 rounds, drawing boos from the crowd.
However, the bitter rivals hugged each other and exchanged compliments after the final bell rang, drawing cheers. Golovkin even kissed Alvarez on the cheek before walking off to their respective corners.
After getting off to a very slow start, an energized Golovkin appeared in the later rounds.
Golovkin caught Alvarez with a short left hook inside about 1:10 into the 10th round. Alvarez grazed Golovkin with a right uppercut that he landed with just under 40 seconds left in the 10th round.
Alvarez’s right uppercut connected at 55 seconds of the ninth round. Golovkin finally unloaded some combination power shots just after the middle of the ninth round, setting Alvarez back.
Golvokin then hit Alvarez with a right hand with about 35 seconds left in the ninth round, which amounted to Golovkin’s best three minutes of the fight to that point.
A left hook from Alvarez knocked Golovkin off balance 20 seconds into the eighth round. Golovkin landed a right hand with about 20 seconds left in the eighth round, only for Alvarez to respond with a harder right hand.
The seventh round mirrored most of the previous six rounds, as Alvarez pressed the action and landed the hardest shots that sometimes caused Golovkin to back off.
Golovkin landed a right hand in exchange just a minute into the sixth round. Alvarez hit Golovkin with a left hand to the body just before the middle of the sixth round.
Alvarez unloaded a series of right hands in the opening minute of the fifth round that continually drove Golovkin back. Golovkin connected with a stiff jab with just under a minute left in the fifth round, but Alvarez was in complete control by then.
Alvarez landed an upstairs left hook and then a hard right that landed on Golovkin’s arm a minute into the fourth round. With just under 30 seconds left in the fourth round, Alvarez’s right hand moved Golovkin back.
Golovkin landed a right hand, but Alvarez countered with a left hand that moved Golovkin back with just under 1:20 remaining in the third round.
A sweeping left hook from Alvarez landed less than 20 seconds into the second round. Alvarez then landed a left-right combination that backed up Golovkin with just under 50 seconds left in the second round.
Golovkin’s left hook slipped past Alvarez’s guard and landed on his jaw early in the second round.
Alvarez slammed a right hand around Golovkin’s elbow to land a body shot exactly midway through the first round. Alvarez lunged forward and landed a left hook a minute into the first round, during which Golovkin was ineffective.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
