Anyone with a half a brain and those who never saw a boxing match before knew that Gennady “GGG” Golovkin defeated Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on September 16th 2017.
From the fifth round on Alvarez started retreating. One cannot blame a boxer who took heavyweight punches from a middleweight for four rounds. He took the same route that Larry “Peanut Head” Holmes did when the bell rang against Mike Tyson!
When the decision was announced a stunned Gennady “GGG” Golovkin had the look like someone who was at the ATM machine and realized someone stole his bank account money! On the other hand there was Alvarez running to a corner and jumping on the ropes with his hands held high like a draw was his gift for going the distance!
Now some six months later it comes out weeks after the announcement date of May 5th it would not be covered on HBO or Showtime but PPV! Like the old saying “follow the money trail!” When asked how different he would fight in the rematch Alvarez should have said “no different as long as we have the same three judges!”
Golovkin could have insisted on three judges from his home land of Kazakhstan! Judge Alalaide Byrd should have been suspended on the spot for her score of 118-110 for Alvarez. Judge Dave Moretti’s 115-113 was close to the proper score. Judge Don Trella scoring it 114-114 went along with being told the decision “must be a draw in the end!” This writer had it 116-112 for GGG. Golovkin had his share of Mexican fans rooting for him and will have more the second time around than Alvarez. The only thing worse than Alvarez fighting the fight he did was when Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran quit on the stool against “Sugar” Ray Leonard!
Since winning his first world title in December of 2010 Golovkin will be making his nineteenth defense plus winning the interim title prior to becoming champion. He has a 37-0-1 record with 33 knockouts. Only three of his opponents had losing records. Alvarez is 49-1-2 with 34 knockouts. Only one more knockout than Golovkin yet fourteen more fights. A dozen of those had losing records. He only had seven defenses. He is ranked No. 2 in the WBC, No. 1 in the WBA and No. 5 in the IBF.
One thing for sure the rematch will “not” be in Las Vegas. Madison Square Garden seems like a good fit for this fight coming up. Canelo would probably like it in Texas if it’s not in Nevada. Since GGG lives in California you can’t count that out. When Tom Loeffler and Oscar de La Hoya get together to make that decision it could come down to the highest bidder. With PPV coming into the picture that could also be a deciding factor. This writer hopes GGG will walk away the winner and seek out the WBO title belt.