While it may not have been the “Big Drama Show” that we were all expecting, it still provided the definitive end to the five-year rivalry between Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin.
Here’s the fight recap:
Round 1
GGG finds success with the jab very early. Canelo throwing heavy punches from the get go but doesn’t quite have the range down yet.
A lot of body movement from Canelo trying to get a reaction from GGG also neutralized the jab from Gennady.
Rd1 10-9, Alvarez
Round 2
As evidence of the weight being put by Canelo behind his punches, GGG is already displaying redness on the right side of his face just 3 minutes in.
Golovkin tentative. Can’t find his rhythm.
Rd 2 10-9, Alvarez
Round 3
Left hook. Left hook. Left hook. Canelo’s speed is allowing him to beat GGG to the punch. 1-2-3 from Canelo backs GGG up. The rest of the round saw Canelo press and dictate the action. He’s clearly a step ahead of his great rival so far.
Rd 3 10-9, Alvarez
Round 4
Canelo letting his hands go to the body and to the head. Golovkin, not throwing enough at all — makes us wonder if he’s worried about the power that he’s tasted so far or wary of the speed.
Even the jab is missing because there are only so few.
Rd 4 10-9, Alvarez
Round 5
Canelo violently goes to the body early giving Golovkin more to think about. BIG overhand right finds its home on the face of Golovkin and he was visibly shook by that punch. GGG looks old. First real moment where either of these 2 fighters looked like they were in any real danger of going down.
Rd 5 10-9, Alvarez
Round 6
Understanding the urgency as its clear he’s behind on the cards, GGG seemed to step up the pace just by tad. Even so, it’s still not enough to win him the round. Canelo stood still for a moment, unclear whether he wants to draw out offense from his opponent or if he was taking a breather from uploading bombs. Whatever the case may be, when he was still Golovkin was able to land on him.
Rd 6 10-9, Alvarez
Round 7
Just like the round before Golovkin starts off fast but its not sustained.
Rd 7 10-9, Alvarez
Round 8
Canelo starting to invest by digging to the body.
GGG clearly outsped.
Rd 8 10-9, Alvarez
Round 9
Some drama unfolds as GGG stuns and backs up Canelo! Alvarez was stunned for more than a brief moment and Golovkin this time was able to capitalize.
Rd 9 9-10, Golovkin
Round 10
Canelo digs to the body again and bothered Golovkin enough so that he clinched which is something he doesn’t normally do.
Golovkin unfurls his first triple jab of the fight this late in the match and it bothered Canelo a lot. Golovkin with a surge of confidence and energy enough to win him the round.
Rd 10, 10-9 Golovkin
Round 11
GGG opens up again with the triple jab and is able to build on that throughout the first minute. Activity has undoubtedly increased for GGG and Canelo is showing signs of fatigue as well.
Rd 11 10-9, Golovkin
Round 12
Golovkin still pressing the action but its just too little, too late. Canelo looks tired though — hands down and breathing through his mouth. So GGG might not have done enough to make it into such a BIG drama show but he did enough to do that!
Rd 12 10-9, Golovkin
As soon as the final bell rang, all that hate and animosity towards one another ended with mutual respect and the sweetest of embraces from the most bitter of rivals.
Once again, we had to go to the official scorecards to know how this went. The scores were as follows:
Judges scorecard:
116-112, 115-113, 115-113, Alvarez by Unanimous Decision
The GAME’s scorecard:
116-112, Canelo Alvarez
No controversy this time and the program proceeded to the interviews which began with Saul paying his respects to his rival by saying, “Thank you so much my friend. We gave the fans 3 really good fights. Thank you for everything!”
When asked about his pre-fight prediction of knocking Golovkin out and when he knew that it was going to be difficult to accomplish, Canelo responded by saying “[As early] as the first round, I knew it was going to be tough.”
Turning over to the side of the Kazakh, he had these to say when asked about why he didn’t seem to able to get going early in the fight.
“Everybody knows this is high level boxing. Everyone knows who Canelo is and that’s why this (result) is like this. This fight is more tactical. This day Canelo is better,” he added.
When asked whether or not he thinks the beef is settled between the two of them, GGG compared his rivalry with Canelo to the names of all-time greats like Michael Jordan, Kobe, Lebron and so and he ended by saying, “Only one can be in the sky.”
While it may not have been a perfect analogy, it was clear enough that Golovkin acknowledged that Alvarez has the upper hand as far as their match up is concerned.
Asked about what’s next, the 40-year old Kazakh says that he’s going back to the 160lb division to defend his three belts.
Beef squashed. Another trilogy in the books.