By: Sean Crose
He has always seemed to accept the judge’s decisions. Most fighters, after having two extremely close fights with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, would be in a position to draw after the judges (some would say predictable) ruled in favor of Canelo. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Gennady Golovkin. The Kazakh warrior has always left the impression that he is secure in feeling that he not only won twice, but that anyone with eyes would agree. Even now, heading into his third battle with Canelo this weekend at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Golovkin seems unconcerned about the Las Vegas judges. It’s all pretty strange. On the other hand, the entire career of the man known as “GGG” has been rather strange.
Feeling ignored by the powerful in Europe, the then-young gun headed to the United States, to Big Bear, California, to train under the esteemed tutelage of Abel Sánchez. From there, Golovkin worked his way up through the middleweight division, becoming truly feared by the powerhouses in existence. Like Marvin Hagler decades before, Golovkin had to work his way to the top of the middleweight division. He was nobody’s golden son. Even with the backing of then-mighty HBO, Golovkin had to win victory after victory until he was finally able to land a high-profile fight against Canelo in 2017. Both men fought brilliantly that night, though most believed Golovkin had gotten the better of him. Yes. men. The judges, as they often do, disagreed with the crowd and ruled the fight a draw.
The rematch a year later was another high-profile show of gloved warfare. This time the judges gave Canelo the absolute victory. The fans moved on, many if not most seeing a fair amount of favoritism at play. Canelo, however, kept winning, kept challenging himself. Golovkin, on the other hand, only fought four more times, against solid but not stellar competition. The exception was Sergey Derevyanchenko, who gave him a good run. Then, just as many fans were starting to see him in the past tense, Golovkin got the chance to take on his arch-rival again.
Suffice to say, Golovkin is not expected to win when he fights Canelo for the third time this weekend. In fact, the consensus this time around seems to lean toward Canelo finally beating his rival without controversy. Golovkin, of course, has other ideas. The man already has a secure legacy. Now, however, he once again has a chance to put Canelo on his list of conquests, a crowning achievement for any fighter, let alone one who has arguably passed his prime. If anyone can outperform at 40 (yes, he’s 40 now), it might as well be Golovkin.
