Well, we admit we got it wrong.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez lived up to most pre-fight predictions by winning a unanimous twelve round decision over Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin in their third defining fight in the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas tonight. Scores returned were 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 in favour of the Mexican.
For most observers Golovkin failed to make a dent in his eight years younger foe throughout the contest. The Undisputed lent towards the closer scores making an argument for the Kazakh, but accept the Mexican was the rightful winner. Most pundits aligned to the wide scorecards so we were not in agreement with the general consensus.
The 40 year old was competitive throughout but gave away most of the early rounds and had to play catchup down the stretch. The ninth was clearly his best as he tried to make an impression, however he never really looked like stopping his teak tough opponent.
There were no knockdowns and neither man was in trouble. Canelo landed most of the spectacular blows, each one being magnified by the roar from the fiercely patriotic crowd.
Despite an electric atmosphere the fight failed to reach the standard of their contests in 2017 and 2018, but was captivating, if not dramatic. The quality on show at times was riveting. Golovkin post-fight likened it to a game of chess.
Both fighters embraced at the final bell and in post-fight interviews praised each other. They admitted the bad blood exchanged over five years of combat was now consigned to history. Thirty six rounds have now been contested with no knockdowns but always box office action. This is a testament to the quality of both fighters which was again on show tonight.
On the night Golovkin was noticeably slower than the first two fights and the extra poundage appeared to hinder him. He struggled to get going in the first six rounds, taking a number of heavy blows. Post fight conclusions will be about his advanced age being the cause, which now has to be taken as a fact. However, to compete how he did tonight was impressive.
Canelo now takes the bragging rights into history and stands alone as the dominant super-middleweight and middleweight of his era. That was the main outcome tonight, but the trilogy between the two will be remembered for its quality and each boxer bringing out the best in one another.
Both boxers emerged tonight with credit and it remains to be seen what their next moves will be. A Dmitry Bivol rematch at light heavyweight is most likely for Canelo to avenge only his second loss. GGG could comfortably retire and wait for his induction into the hall-of-fame, but no announcements were made post fight. If he does continue there will be lots of takers to face him and entertainment to boot.
In the co-main event San Antonio’s Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez successfully defended his WBC world super-flyweight title for a second time with a hard earned twelve round decision against Mexico’s Israel Gonzales.
The Undisputed 