Fight week day two and both fighters arrived at the MGM Grand this lunchtime for the massive super-middleweight world unification fight Saturday 17th at the nearby T-Mobile arena.
Both combatants looked a picture of health and primed for the challenge ahead. The lobby of the hotel concourse was packed with roughly 300 predominantly Mexican fans in attendance for their hero ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
Gennadiy Golovkin was the first to arrive entering to the strains of his signature tune The White Stripes ‘Seven Nation Army’. Canelo kept him waiting on the dais for a good 30 minutes, and with the mariachi band straining their lungs, he eventually entered to a Mexican fanfare.
After several interviews and a tasty face-off Golovkin made his exit and left the stage to the eight years younger Canelo. The Mexican is a big favourite going in, with a recent poll by The Ring magazine amongst a number of experts returning a 20-0 split in Canelo’s favour. A staggering return given GGG has arguably won the majority of the 24 rounds completed between the two. It looks like the age discrepancy and the Kazakh being in more attritional fights since they last met in 2018 as being the deciding factors.
Friday’s weigh in will be telling when Canelo will show whether he’s successfully returned to 168 from 175lbs with no noticeable effect and on the flip side how comfortable GGG looks in the higher weight class, having moved up from middleweight at 160lbs.
Special mention today for Head of Matchroom Boxing, Eddie Hearn, who conducted interviews for close to two hours and when the masses had already left was the last to leave the dais. This illustrates why he may be the most successful promoter out there. Much maligned by some, but given his relentless schedule this is to be admired.
More on-site updates to follow as we move through fight week.
The Undisputed 