A Look At Golovkin vs Canelo 2

A Look At Golovkin vs Canelo 2

By Joe Jessup

Gennady Golovkin and Saul Alvarez fought to a split draw in September 2017, with many spectators feeling Triple G had done enough to win the clash of boxing titans. Since that historic night their rematch has been pushed back controversially, with the Mexican Alvarez failing a drug test for performance enhancement. Despite the set back, the two warriors will finally get their chance to force some clarity on the rivalry as they square off on September 15th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

In this article, I explore the thoughts surrounding the anticipated rematch as well as who should be considered the favourite.

The world needs no introduction to the bout which takes place on September 15th under the Las Vegas lights. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will finally meet Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin for the second time, almost exactly a year since the two middleweights fought to a highly contentious split draw in the same arena.

The majority of people, this writer included, thought Golovkin had done enough to win the fight unanimously. Canelo fought valiantly, proving his class and strength across the course of twelve punishing rounds, but he was outworked, outpunched and out-thought by the Kazakhstani knockout king.

Indeed GGG outlanded Canelo in 10 of 12 rounds, landed nearly fifty more punches whilst being only three percent less accurate against the counterpunching Mexican. It was a close fight with a lot of action, but Alvarez simply didn’t win. How Adelaide Byrd scored the fight 118-110 to Alvarez simply defies belief.

Judging by what has occurred since that night, we are fortunate that the rematch is even happening. Alvarez twice tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol ahead of the bout’s original Cinco de Mayo date, leading to theories that the Mexican had cheated and not just in the lead up to this rematch.

Quite predictably however, the Golden Boy of Mexican-American boxing was hardly punished and received a measly six-month ban, dating back to the initial suspension.

Whether lesser known fighters would have received the same treatment is up for debate but one could assume they wouldn’t have been back in the ring as soon as Canelo will be. Despite the controversy surrounding the lead up to the fight, there is less than a month to go before the two pound for pound contenders enter battle once again. If the first bout was anything to go by then the boxing world is in for a treat of power punching, heart and determination.

An interesting question this time around is who the favourite should be? In the first bout Golovkin was favoured; stronger, bigger, more tested and with a fearsome streak going in. Canelo was expected to pose problems, but probably not last the distance with a guy who had knocked out almost every pretender hitherto. The Danny Jacobs fight gave some hope that Golovkin was beginning to slow down, but not enough credit is given to the American for this.

As it turned out, like his rival GGG, Alvarez has a chin made of granite. He was able to absorb the Kazakhstani’s punches with surprising ease, whilst occasionally giving as good as he got in return. He looked very strong as the weight, retained his speed and still moved around like a 154 pounder. The big ask now is whether the Mexican fighter can improve both his own game and his plan for dealing with the sheer output of his opponent.

Golovkin fights one way and is incredibly successful at it. Whilst GGG is often mistaken for being one dimensional, he is a far better technician than many realise. A stellar and lengthy amateur career is testament to this fact.

Golovkin is the aggressive hunter, stalking his opponent like a wolf would prey. This may be largely down to the fact that no one appears able to hurt or deter the iron chinned champion, so he doesn’t feel the need to be cautious or too careful. Golovkin throws punches from a lot of unorthodox angles, catching opponents by surprise and with thumping power. He is a volume puncher, incredibly fit and works the ring very well, leaving people with little room to manoeuvre the counter or defend the coming onslaught. On top of all this the guy is a very strong middlewight, very capable of campaigning at 168lbs should he ever choose to.

In all honesty, Golovkin doesn’t have to do too much differently from the first fight, perhaps capitalising a little bit more when Canelo backs up. Maybe now he has felt the Mexican’s full power, he can take a few more risks and try to get close enough to do some real damage and take it out the hands of the judges.

Alvarez is a classy boxer, but one that can fight when the need arises. The Mexican prefers to play the counter punch and wait for opponents to miss, punishing them with accurate, hard punches. He moves well, has strong defensive reflexes and is more than capable of putting opponents to sleep. He is also one of the best body punchers in recent times. The most recent in a long list of Mexican legends, the ‘Baby faced’ Guadalajara native isn’t renown for the style so synonymous with his country.

It’s quite unbelievable to think Canelo is still only 28 years of age and about to enter his 53rd professional bout, such is his experience in the fight game already. Canelo looked very strong at 160lbs last time out and despite the controversy surrounding his alleged PED use, it’s clear that he belongs at this weight class naturally.

I’d expect Alvarez this time round to up his volume of punches, as he simply can’t allow Golovkin to outwork his again. He can count himself incredibly fortunate to have been gifted the draw last time out, but the same tactics will be unlikely to cut it. The onus is on Alvarez to switch up his game plan now, and it will be interesting to see what he can bring differently this time out. His one big disadvantage may be that he has been out of the ring for a whole year, where GGG had time to take his frustrations out in a stay busy fight this May just gone.

The bookies are slightly favouring Golovkin once again but there does seem to be a growing consensus that the younger, fresher Alvarez may box his way to a decision.

In my opinion, Golovkin will get the job done this time by either a unanimous decision (correcting the perceived injustice a year ago) or possibly even by late knockout, although the latter seems unlikely.

I think Golovkin will have extra fire in his belly because of the judging last time out as well as, in his eyes, Canelo attempting to use performance enhancing tactics this time. I expect to see Alvarez step outside of his comfort zone as he tries to negate the work rate of his rival, which very well could be his undoing.

Golovkin will follow a pattern so familiar to him, whilst Alvarez has to try something different and in all truth, he’s in against the wrong person to try new things.

With that said, a decision either way wouldn’t shock me at all. Boxing needs the best fighting the best and all credit to these two for doing it again. I plan to enjoy the show and like most others, hope for some closure on this rivalry.