By Sam Volz: Eddie Hearn surprisingly says there were “no steals” in the first two fights between Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin.
Hearn says he felt the first Canelo-Golovkin fight deserved to be a draw in 2017, and saw Canelo win the second one in 2018.
In other words, Hearn agrees with the judges who called the first fight a 12-round draw, which many fans disagreed with.
If Golovkin had won both fights, the trajectory of his career would probably be very different from what it turned out to be.
Golovkin would have made more money for the 2018 rematch against Canelo to begin with, and likely would have received a lot of endorsement offers.
The trilogy fight against Canelo would have come long before 2022 had Golovkin won the first two fights, as the Mexican star would have pushed hard to face him in December 2018.
Boxing fans largely view the first fight as a clear victory for Golovkin, with many feeling he deserved to win the decision by eight rounds to four.
“Certainly, both fights were very close, and we know that, but at the same time, Gennadiy Golovkin believes he won those two fights,” Eddie Hearn told Secondsout of the two Canelo vs. Golovkin from 2017 and 2018.
“Canelo Álvarez feels like he won those two fights. Ultimately he is irrelevant now. The third fight is upon us, and we both want to make sure we win on Saturday,” Hearn continued.
“Sometimes decisions come your way, and sometimes they don’t,” Hearn said when asked how Golovkin’s career would have gone if he had won both fights with Canelo in terms of money.
“One thing is for sure; there were no steals in those fights. I feel like Canelo Alvarez won the second fight. I thought the first fight was very, very close. It could have gone to anyone.
“Sometimes when you’re in an arena and it’s full of Mexican Canelo fans, if it’s on a knife edge, he’ll make the decision. That’s boxing, but both fights were very close.
“Would that have changed the trajectory [of GGG’s career]? I don’t know. There could have been a trilogy before.
“One thing I don’t agree with is when people say, ‘Canelo has been waiting, waiting for the rematch.’ “Look who he’s boxed in. He went and unified the super middleweight division in a year,” Hearn said.
