Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin were men of relatively few words at today’s final press conference, as the two superstar fighters are poised and in the zone for Saturday’s trilogy fight in Las Vegas.
Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) and trainer Eddy Reynoso discussed their motivation for not only this rivalry fight, but also coming off a May loss to Dmitry Bivol, while Golovkin (42-1-1 , 37 KO) and trainer Johnathon Banks acknowledged they are ready for an aggressive Canelo, who goes on to say he plans on getting a knockout on Saturday.
This is what everyone had to say:
Canelo Alvarez
“I am really motivated to be here. Obviously the loss (to Dmitry Bivol) hurt, but we’re back on the road to greatness and you’ll see the best of me on Saturday.”
“I feel like I work better under pressure, and the pressure I’ve put on myself is to finish this inside the distance. I know it will be very difficult, but nothing in life is easy. I always seek to achieve what is difficult. I have a very tough rival in front of me; a strong and intelligent opponent. But the knockout will be my goal on Saturday night.”
Gennady Golovkin
“The last time was four years ago, it was a long time. Finally, on Saturday night. I think this is the biggest day for boxing right now and the biggest gift to the fans. I feel confident, I feel strong, I feel ready.”
“I think I will win, I believe in myself, I believe in my team. This is my life. This is my real life.”
“We are both professional athletes. His strategy is more aggressive, mine is more experienced. We’ll see. In the ring, we will see who is better. This is the biggest fight for us.”
“This is at 168. Everything has changed and everything is possible.”
Eddy Reynoso, Canelo’s trainer
“(After a loss), we have great motivation. We are in very good shape and we have worked very hard in camp.”
“Canelo is a very competitive athlete, he has been like that since he was a child. You learn not only from victory, but also from defeat. We’ve done a fantastic job over the past few weeks.”
“We know that they have done 24 rounds, we also know the level of boxing that we can expect. They have different skills and attitudes. The person who wins will be able to show them off at night.”
Johnathon Banks, GGG Trainer
“We were able to see the best fight of the three. This is boxing big time. This is the moment everyone has been waiting for, nothing but excitement on both sides.”
“You have two professionals, and they both take their jobs seriously. That’s why this fight has the appeal that it does. It’s going to be a great night, two titans going head to head.”
“GGG is a true professional. If he fights at middleweight, he will come at middleweight. If he fights at super middleweight, he will come in at super middleweight. I don’t think he helps or hurts him. This is the weight he agreed to fight at, I don’t think it’s going to make a difference. We are excited to have this challenge on the table.”
“I think it would be really silly to believe that Canelo is not going to come out aggressive. Both boys are final competitors. He comes out aggressive against anyone else, so why wouldn’t he now? But come as it comes, G is ready for it and will rise to the challenge.”
