Former world champion and current boxing columnist Sean Porter believes that 40-year-old middleweight from Kazakhstan Gennady Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 EO) has a chance in the confrontation with his antagonist from Mexico Saul Canelo Alvarez (57-2-2 , 39 KOs).
The fighters have met twice before. In 2017, the judges recorded a controversial draw, and 12 months later, the Mexican was a little better.
The third fight will take place in September in Las Vegas (USA) and for the first time will be held in the super middleweight limit (the previous ones were a division below) – they will fight for all the division belts that Canelo now owns.
In May, the Mexican tried to take the belt a division higher, but lost by decision to the champion from the Russian Federation Dmitry Bivol. Porter
suggests not to forget: There are two sides of the coin. The first is Golovkin’s age. He’s older, he doesn’t move like he used to. But there is also a downside. He had a lot of time to rest and recover, and a lot more to think about, given Canelo’s latest performance. So he has a chance to do something different this time.”
“I don’t think that defeat will affect Canelo much,” Porter says. “It’s much more likely that now he is even more determined to enter the ring and remind everyone who he really is. What does it mean? What he will pursue, find and destroy. But Golovkin is not going to capitulate either. At least do not wait for him to surrender early. Therefore, the fight will be spectacular. And I’m not 100% sure that I know whose it will take. Let’s talk about garlic. Golovkin no longer has the movements that he had in 2010-2012. Which means he can’t outbox Canelo.”
Based on this, Porter offers the veteran a bet on the knockout: “He will have to bet on the “just-knock-style” that has been proven over the years. But this time you need to box smarter, use those moments in which there is a reason to dig deeper. Will it help win by knockout? It’s not out of the question!”
Porter also believes that Canelo can beat Bivol in a rematch. Interestingly, Golovkin himself agrees that Alvarez will be more serious in a fight with him than with Bivol. And the veteran said that “Canelo lives in illusions.”