Canelo Alvarez capped off his trilogy with Gennadiy Golovkin with a definitive victory.
In a 12-round bout that saw Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) dominate early and Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) surge late, it was Canelo who emerged with a unanimous decision win at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. The judges scored the contest 116-112, 115-113, and 115-113 in Canelo’s favor, though for most of the bout it appeared that Canelo was in control of the action.
With the win, Canelo remained the undisputed champion as the current holder of the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring super middleweight titles.
This was Canelo’s third encounter with Golovkin. The first two were highly controversial in the boxing community. Canelo fought Golovkin to a split draw on Sept. 16, 2017, and then won a majority decision over his rival a year later. Fans and peers were mixed in their reactions to both of these outcomes.
In his post-fight interview, Canelo thanked Golovkin and their trio of fights.
” We gave three great fights to the fans,” Canelo stated. “Thank you for everything.”
The first half of the fight belonged to Canelo as the younger fighter controlled the action, sticking and moving against a tentative Golovkin. Golovkin did not manage to generate much offense during the first round, aside from the occasional jab. Canelo racked up the points with consistent body work and a powerful uppercut.
Golovkin later showed some signs of health, increasing his output and sometimes putting Canelo in the rearview mirror. However, Canelo was still consistently outworking Golovkin and it appeared that he was headed towards a wide win on the scorecard, which turned out to be closer than some might have expected.
Canelo has now recovered from his May loss to Dmitry Bivol, WBA lightweight heavyweight champion. Canelo was asked if he is seeking a rematch with Bivol and while he said it’s the fight he wants, he added that he needs time to rest and address an injury to his left hand. Bivol will defend his title against Gilberto RAMirez in November. 5.
In his interview after the fight,
Golovkin also showed great grace.
” Everyone knows that this high-level boxing class is for you,” Golovkin stated. “Everybody knows this is Canelo. You miss one punch, he can finish the fight. Look at his face, look at my face. We trained well and this shows that we did a very good fight as a result of it.”
“Today, Canelo is better,” Golovkin added before he and Canelo shook hands and embraced.
