By Craig Daly: Gennadiy Golovkin is convinced he can win a decision against Canelo Alvarez, even with the same judges who worked his second fight in 2018.
(Photo credit: Matchroom Boxing)
Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) points out that Canelo lost a decision to Dmitry Bivol in his last fight in May, and that shows the judges will score against him when he gets outboxed.
What Golovkin is not saying is that the scores given by the three judges who worked the Canelo vs. Bivol were too close, given the one-sided nature of the contest. All three judges, in unison, scored the fight 115-113 x 3, which arguably should have been 118-110 or 119-109.
It’s possible that for Golovkin to win a decision against Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) on Saturday night, he’ll need to dominate him the same way Bivo did.
That’s going to be tough for Golovkin because he’s not as talented as Bivol when it comes to boxing skills, and his defense isn’t as good.
Bivol was rarely hit by Canelo as he answered virtually every telegraphed punch the Mexican star threw in the fight. Golovkin can’t do this because even when he sees Canelo’s shots, he can’t block them like Bivol.
Golovkin trusts the judges
“This fight is different in many ways. It’s been a long time and we are all in different situations from a boxing point of view. It’s a different fight,” Gennadiy Golovkin told Fight Hub TV about what has changed since he last fought Canelo Alvarez in 2018.
“I know what I have to do during this fight. I don’t need to allow any mistakes and fight fairer. This will give me the results I want,” Golovkin continued.
“It’s not that I’m happy or unhappy with the judges’ selection, but Canelo’s last fight showed that the judges can deliver a decision loss. Although he wasn’t happy with his decision, he didn’t agree with his scores.
“Anyway, it showed that judges are like a human factor that plays a role in the outcome of boxing matches. In fact, this is my last fight with DAZN, according to our agreements. So any future fights will be discussed separately,” Golovkin said.
Hearn: Gennadiy wants to destroy Canelo
“When you look at the frame, everyone always towers over Canelo Alvarez during heads-up, and Gennadiy does too,” Eddie Hearn told iFL TV.
“When you do 160 for sixteen years, it takes a lot out of your body, believe me. The [Golovkin] will fill incredible at the weigh-ins on Friday at 168 compared to [at 160]. You’ll say, ‘Can you imagine if you had to take off eight pounds?’
“That lead will go to Gennadiy. Going up and down is not an advantage, but the 168 will be comfortable for Canelo. I don’t,” Hearn said when told that Golovkin said in an interview that he has no bad feelings towards Canelo.
“How can you not have bad feelings towards Canelo Álvarez and say the things he said? Gennadiy Golovkin is a very respectful man. He is an honorable man, he is a great man, but he does not like Canelo Alvarez.
“There is no point in sugarcoating it. I think sometimes he feels like he doesn’t want to disrespect the sport by having some kind of back-and-forth stuff. But he doesn’t like it; he he doesn’t
“He said too many things about him for him to like. In fact, I think they respect each other as fighters, but Canelo has said, ‘I want to finish this fight within 12 rounds. I want to finish off Gennadiy Golovkin.
“I want Gennadiy Golovkin to tell you what he thinks and you, because he doesn’t like it. It’s as simple as that. Then he will do an interview with another person and say, he is this, he is that.
“Gennadiy Golovkin is a very tough man, and he is also very smiling and charming, but he is a cold-blooded killer. Thats the reality.
“Where he comes from, the way he fights, you see his brother. They are bad men, and they are fine men, honorable men. They are ready to do a job on Saturday night and they want to go in and destroy Canelo Alvarez. Don’t do anything about it.
“I really have no idea. It’s a great fight,” Hearn said when asked how many buys Canelo vs. Golovkin III pay-per-view will generate for UK audiences.
“The time zone doesn’t help any pay-per-view, but I expect it to do similar numbers to what it did on the BT pay-per-view. I don’t know what they were. It’s not going to break pay-per-view records, but it’s a great fight that fans will want to stick around for.
“No,” Hearn said when asked if he told DAZN they could get more viewers if they didn’t pay to watch in the UK. “I’m not sure that’s the case, to be honest with you.
“I think if you’re prepared to stay up and watch an international fight at four in the morning, you’ll do it either way, to be honest with you.
“It doesn’t mean it has to be pay-per-view for that reason. But ultimately I don’t think you’ll get a lot of extra eyes if it’s pay-per-view or part of the subscription.
“Obviously they [DAZN] they are paying a lot of money for this fight, and they have to make the numbers work.
“There will be fights where when we get back to the pay-per-view argument with DAZN, if they want to compete for fights like Canelo-Golovkin and Benn-Eubank, which is probably the biggest UK pay-per-view that we have. I’ve ever done, AJ-Fury, they have to have that functionality.
“They have been able to do it and it has been incredibly successful, particularly with the KSI event and Bivol against Canelo. They have a very powerful pay-per-view platform that they have built themselves,” said Hearn.
Canelo wasn’t avoiding GGG
“This fight was agreed upon a long time ago before the pandemic, and they were working on this fight for a long time,” Hearn told ID Boxing, when asked to discuss Canelo making Golovkin wait four years before finally fighting him. .
“The pandemic hit and took away the ability to generate the revenue needed to put on a fight like this. Then after that, Canelo returned to the ring. During the pandemic, Canelo Alvarez was still fighting.
“Don’t forget he faced Callum Smith with a limited crowd in Texas. He then also boxed in Miami with a limited crowd. Gennadiy Golovkin did not. He took his time and was inactive and came back in December behind closed doors against [Kamil] His love.
“I don’t think he’s ever played chess at all. Knowing Canelo Alvarez, he would never walk away from a challenge. If people want to see the fight, and the fight makes money, he’s in.
“This fight people will always want to see and it will always make money. I just think sometimes time doesn’t work, and obviously, time worked.
“I was able to make a deal with Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin on DAZN to put this fight together before the Bivol fight. Don’t forget that this fight with Gennadiy Golovkin was actually made earlier this year.
“Obviously you had the Bivol fight and then you agreed to fight Gennadiy in September. I think in 168; he is really going to help you. Of course, he may not be as fresh as when he was 34 or 32 or whatever. It’s just life.
“I put 168. I think in the Murata fight, you could really see the effects of 160 pounds. [on Golovkin]. By the way, people talk about that performance. It was a great performance after the first few rounds.
“He went through the gears and stopped a very strong world champion in his backyard. This is not a guy who is just fighting Canelo Alvarez for the first time. This is a guy who fought him twice. He knows how to fight him,” Hearn said of Golovkin.
