Canelo Alvarez has repeatedly promised to end his feud with Gennadiy Golovkin with a knockout, and he says it can happen, courtesy of one of his signature punches.
Alvarez, the undisputed 168-pound champion from Mexico, will defend his belts against Kazakhstan’s Golovkin on September 17 at T-Mobile Arena on DAZN pay-per-view.
In the lead-up to the fight thus far, Alvarez has expressed his eagerness to remove all ambiguity regarding their rivalry. The two fought to a controversial draw in 2017, in a fight most observers believed Golovkin deserved to win, while Alvarez narrowly outpointed Golovkin in the 2018 rematch.
When asked in a recent interview about the likelihood of not just knocking out Golovkin, but doing so by hurting him in the body, Alvarez offered a confident answer, citing his talent for touching opponents in the torso.
“A lot,” Alvarez told FightHype.com. “It’s one of my best shots, to the body, right?
“I’m going to work whatever it takes, head, body, but my goal is to finish this fight before the 12th round. So whatever it takes, I’ll do it in the ring.”
Many observers believe that Álvarez will have an advantage over Golovkin due to his age; Alvarez is 32 years old, while Golovkin is 40. There have also been some signs that Golovkin has been on the decline physically; he visibly hurt his body in his hellish fight with Sergiy Derevyanchenko in 2019 and went through some tough times in his last fight with Ryota Murata in April before winning via last-round stoppage.
Age aside, Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) believes his rivalry with Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) has been popular with the public because their fighting styles mesh so well. Of course, Alvarez believes he has all the tools at this point in his career to put his hands up on Sept. 17.
“This type of fight, our styles make this fight perfect,” Alvarez said. “That’s why it’s a trilogy. We had two great fights because our styles make the fight perfect. And I think this fight will also be a good fight. But I think I’m more mature, I’m at my best, I feel safe. I think that’s going to be the difference.”
