40-year-old IBF/WBA middleweight title holder Gennady Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) looked familiar in his last unification bout against Ryota Murata (16-3, 13 KOs), and not “old and hooked” like some think. According to his rival in Saturday’s megafight, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs), the fact that the Kazakhstani conceded a lot does not mean that the Japanese revealed some secret flaws in GGG’s defense. It’s just that Gennady, realizing that he had nothing to fear from Murata’s serves, deliberately “triggered” the defense.
Recall that at the beginning of the fight, the underdog repeatedly disturbed GGG with blows to the head and body, but in the end, the favorite passed Ryota in the usual manner. The referee stopped their fight in the 9th round as Murata’s trainer threw in the towel after the knockdown.
“I think he gets hit so often because Murata doesn’t hit very hard,” Alvarez told reporters in Las Vegas. – I think during the fight Golovkin said to himself: “Ah, well, okay.” I think so. And why he actually missed so much, I don’t know. ”
Alvarez – Golovkin 3: prediction and betting on the fight
Canelo says that despite these moments, Golovkin effectively did what he was supposed to: get another opponent out of the way and get his championship title in his hands.
“He did a really good job. He is the same fighter as before: strong, holds the blow, hits powerfully. So he is the same,” Canelo concluded on the eve of their third fight, which will take place on Saturday. Here is a preview for it: big drama.
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