Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin hug each other after their third fight. Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom
Canelo Alvarez finally scored a clear decision over Gennadiy Golovkin in the four-year-old matchup that took place in Las Vegas on Saturday. Alvarez beat his arch-rival by scores of 116-112 and 115-113 (twice), but most observers considered the super middleweight championship a one-sided contest in favor of the Mexican star, who is still in his best moment.
Many of those same fans and members of the media believed that Golovkin, now clearly past his prime at 40, deserved to win his first fight at middleweight in 2017, which ended in a controversial split draw. The 2018 rematch, also played at middleweight, was a heated battle that was selected as The Ring’s fight of the year. Álvarez won it by majority decision, but many observers scored it a draw.
Álvarez retained his Ring/WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO 168-pound titles with a UD over his arch-rival. Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom
So while the official record for the Canelo-Golovkin rivalry is 2-0-1, it’s actually more of a 1-1-1 draw in the court of public opinion. The ratings result for fight No. 3 was also basically a deadlock as none of the future hall-of-famers advanced or fell.
Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) remains the undisputed super middleweight champion and clings to his No. 5 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings. Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) remains the No. 1-ranked middleweight (as well as the unified IBF-WBA champion).
“Canelo took an early lead against a circumspect GGG, who recovered late, but it was too little too late,” commented panelist Anson Wainwright. “Her third chapter of hers was the least exciting of the trilogy.”
RING QUALIFICATIONS UPDATE (as of September 17):
Pound for pound: Alvarez remains at No. 5.
“Canelo took care of business against GGG,” panelist Anson Wainwright said. “Not enough to move up.”
Panelist Martin Mulcahey added: “This is not one of the books for either side. The period of time between the rematch and the trilogy was too long when one has reached 40 years. No movement for Canelo, and no jumping (Errol ranked No. 4) Spence in that performance.”
Heavyweight: Andy Ruiz advances to No. 4 after outpointing Luis Ortiz, who falls to No. 7.
“Even though Andy Ruiz beat Luis Ortiz, I’m not sure either of them gained much momentum from this one, but Ruiz is still a dangerous fight for anyone,” Mulcahey said. “I think the middle of the top 10 pack is where they both belong. (Joseph, No. 3 ranked) Parker beat Ruiz, so he still deserves the highest rating. So one spot up for Ruiz and one spot down for Ortiz.”
Super middleweight: Álvarez is still champion. Christian Mbilli remains at No. 5 following an impressive second-round stoppage of DeAndre Ware.
Christian Mbilli
Wainwright suggested a one-spot advance for Mbilli, swapping places with No. 4-rated John Ryder, but was rebuffed by managing editor Tom Gray and panelist Adam Abramowitz.
“As impressive as Mbilli looked on Friday, I wouldn’t move him ahead of Ryder,” Abramowitz said. “I think he should stay where he is.”
Wainwright replied: “I debated it. However, I felt that Mbilli’s wins over Mohammedi (for which he jumped) and Ware’s win showed that he is making progress. I felt like Ryder got a little lucky against Daniel Jacobs in February, he hasn’t fought since and had just clocked in since giving Callum Smith hell in November 2019. It’s advice for the future and I would pick Mbilli to beat. . Ryder face to face”.
Gray added: “I’m with Adam here. Mbilli is a solid talent and a great puncher, but he is still fighting below the top level. Mohammedi has lost as many times as he has won in recent years, and DeWare hasn’t exactly turned heads.
“You said it yourself, Anson, Mbilli is ‘progressing’. Essentially, he is where he is now because of the vision test. I expect Mbilli to go A LOT further, but she needs to get the results to move up the ratings.
“Ryder has operated at a higher level and a close decision win over Jacobs tops Mbilli’s resume with room to spare. Opinions varied on that result, but the vast majority of fans and pundits had Ryder beating Callum Smith.
“Who we think wins between Mbilli and Ryder is irrelevant.”
Wainwright added that Ali Akhmedov, who outpointed veteran goalie Gabriel Rosado on the Canelo-Golovkin undercard “is in the 11-15 range.”
Middleweight: Golovkin remains at No. 1.
“GGG said it will continue, so keep it where it is,” Wainwright said.
Junior Middleweight: Liam Smith remains at No. 7 following a fourth-round knockout of Hassan Mwakinyo.
Lightweight: Isaac Cruz remains at No. 5 after knocking out junior lightweight contender Eduardo Ramirez in two rounds. Richard Commey drops out of rankings after moving up to junior welterweight. Gustavo Lemos (28-0, 18 KOs) enters at No. 10.
Wainwright had originally suggested that Jermaine Ortiz enter at No. 10, but Abramowitz, Diego Morilla and Yours Truly favored Lemos.
Junior lightweight: Eduardo Ramírez out. Lamont Roach (23-1-1, 9 KOs) re-enters at No. 10.
Junior featherweight: Ra’eese Aleem advances to No. 3 following a 10-round win over fellow contender Mike Plania, who drops to No. 9. Danny Roman departs after announcing his retirement. Takuma Inoue (16-1, 3 KOs) enters at No. 10.
Inoue Takuma
Wainwright’s suggestion of Inoue was met with some skepticism, but the panel couldn’t think of a better addition after Roman’s departure.
“I hope there is someone more worthy than Takuma Inoue,” Gray said. “Hess had three fights in three years and accomplished very little. That said, I looked around and the options seem limited. He left it with you guys in case I missed something.”
Added Morilla: “I would suggest Ludumo Lamati at 122, but I guess Inoue has a slightly better track record at this point.”
Mulcahey added: “On paper, Takuma Inoue deserves number 10, somehow it doesn’t thrill me and I remember he almost took the loss when he mistook (Nordine) Oubaali on his only setback. But others worthy of consideration haven’t had a big test yet, maybe Sam Goodman, but again he hasn’t faced a top 10.”
Junior Bantamweight: Juan Francisco Estrada remains champion after a hard-fought unanimous decision over Argi Cortes. Jesse Rodriguez remains at No. 3 after a tougher-than-expected unanimous decision over Israel Gonzalez.
“You can’t be spectacular every time. Rodriguez was more of a worker, winning a 12-round unanimous decision against the brave and brave Gonzalez,” Wainwright said. “Motionless.
Added Mulcahey: “I’m ready to say that Bam Rodriguez’s activity (three title fights this year) against a good level of opposition is enough to get past (Kosei) Ioka, but (Kosei) Tanaka still wins. is very important to Ioka. Really conflicted and will go with the majority vote.”
Junior flyweight: Sivenathi Nontshinga moves up to No. 5 after scoring a sensational 12-round split decision over Hector Flores Calixto. Masamichi Yabuki remains at No. 6 following a seventh-round knockout of previously undefeated Thanongsak Simsri.
“Nontshinga outboxed Calixto in a really tough fight to win the vacant IBF title,” Wainwright noted. “Nontshinga moved up two places for the excellent win away from home (in Mexico).”
Strawweight: Petchmanee CP Freshmart remains No. 2 following a 12-round unanimous decision over the resilient Norihito Tanaka.
