By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez returns from a one-sided blowout at the hands of WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol to defend all four of his 168-pound straps against Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17.
While Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KO) and his many supporters have tried to downplay his loss to Bivol (21-0, 10 KO), it’s hard to dismiss the loss as a fluke because it was such a one-sided affair. .
Canelo took a LOT of punishment against Bivol, and one thinks the beating could still be haunting the Mexican star ahead of his trilogy against Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs).
If Canelo is still in shock from what happened to him at the hands of Bivol, you have to give the 40-year-old Golovkin a real chance to beat him. To be sure, when a fighter is beaten like Canelo was by Bivol, it’s hard to bounce back from that loss right away.
It was fun to hear Canelo talk about the Bivol fight this week, saying that he had won five of the first six rounds of the contest. The truth of the matter is that Canelo fought well enough to win one round in the first half of the fight and only two overall.
The judges surprisingly scored it 115-113, 115-113 and 115-113, all for Bivol, but those scores were terribly bad. The fight, by the way, took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which is where the first two Canelo-Golovkin bouts took place and where the fight will take place on September 17.
Bivol was hitting Canelo like a drum, and at one point in the fifth, hit him with seven straight shots to the head during a flurry. Canelo looked pathetic trying to dodge Bivol’s shots with the movement of his head. With every shot he landed, Canelo looked like a punching bag.
What was really funny is how Canelo signaled for Bivol to come back for more, like he was enjoying the punishment and wishing he would keep dishing out more.
Recently, Canelo has been floating the idea that he wasn’t 100% ready for the Bivol fight due to something not going right for him in training camp. With no doctor’s note to show fans, we’re forced to take Canelo’s word for it with no proof.
If Canelo is in any kind of pain from an ailment he’s hiding for the Golovkin fight, he could lose.
“He is more motivated than ever. This is the fight where he shuts down all the critics, answers all the questions and finally gets the ultimate victory,” Chris Mannix told DAZN Boxing Show about Canelo Alvarez in his trilogy with Gennadiy Golovkin.
“That’s his mindset going into this fight. Win this fight, and definitely win it, so that people know who is the better of the two fighters.”
“An additional factor that could play a role and that is the unknown that we won’t know until maybe a few rounds into the fight, and that is the weight of both sides,” Mike Costello said.
“Canelo coming down from light heavyweight. I know he has done it before, but he has to do it again at 32 years old. Will he be affected by the weight loss? On the other hand, Gennadiy Golovkin, fighting at this level at super middleweight.
“Will he have the frame to fit the heavier weight? Just another imponderable that we can release in the hope that what we see is something very special,” Costello said.
“Yeah, with Canelo, he went down from 175 after beating Sergey Kovalev and proceeded to win four fights in a row to become the undisputed champion at 168. I think he knows he’s comfortable in that weight class,” Mannix said.
“Golovkin is a bit more mysterious. Going up from 160 to 168. Golovkin has basically been a 160-pounder since his amateur days, which is almost unheard of in boxing.
“He never really moved a pound except for a couple of catchweight fights later in his career. I think he could benefit from those eight extra kilos. It will certainly be an interesting fight.
“I think we both agree. Let’s get a clear winner in this one,” Mannix said of the third match between Canelo and Golovkin.
