Canelo Alvarez is talking about a lot of play heading into his Saturday night trilogy fight against Gennadiy Golovkin.
Alvarez has a massive chip on his shoulder following a unanimous decision loss to Dmitry Bivol in May, as well as having to deal with resurfaced arguments that he fended off losses with the help of the judges in two hotly contested matchups against Golovkin in 2017 ( split draw) and 2018 (majority decision win).
“I’m going to [destroy him]Alvarez told BoxingScene.com and other reporters.
“I beat him, and I always feel the same. People will never give me credit. [if I win], don’t worry. And I’m not worried about that. I only care about moving forward and doing what’s best for my career. I don’t care what people or public opinion say. No matter what happens, you will never make them happy, whether you win or lose.”
Alvarez said he will show a more aggressive version of his offense once he starts round 25 against Golovkin.
“I think this fight will end in a knockout. That is sure. The knockout will absolutely remove any doubt about what happened in the previous fights. That is what I am going to look for from the first round,” Álvarez said.
“I don’t care what his style will be. I’m going to be there and find a way to knock him out.
“I am a fighter who takes risks by moving up in weight and is opening up challenges when there are none for me. I didn’t have to. But I wanted to build my career and my story. And when you’re looking for the story, you’re going to have some bumps in the road. But that doesn’t mean you’re not good at achieving them. I am on that path. Individually I am very competitive and that will not stop me from my goal”.
Four-division champion Alvarez’s previous two fights against the 40-year-old Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) have taken place at 160 pounds. Triple G has never fought above or below the middleweight limit throughout his 16-year career.
Undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) will return at 168 pounds after coming up short against Bivol at 175 pounds.
“It was a very tough defeat. [against Bivol]. It hurt me a lot to lose. Nobody likes to lose,” Álvarez said. “That’s life. You win. You lose. But at the end of it all, greatness is getting up again and getting on the path, and getting up stronger than before.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and television reporter. He is also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, by email at manouk[dot]collect[at]gmail.com or at www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
