Golovkin vs. Canelo official for 5/5 – News break!

By Boxing News - 01/29/2018 - Comments

Image: Golovkin vs. Canelo official for 5/5 – News break!

By Sean Jones: Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) and Golden Boy Promotions star Saul Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) have agreed to their contracts and their rematch is now official for May 5th at a still to be determined venue in the U.S. The start time for the Golovkin-Canelo rematch will be at 8:00 PM. ET on May the 5th.

There’s still no word what the purse split for the fight will be. It’s likely the boxing fans won’t be told what the percentage split will be for the Canelo vs. Triple G fight, but it’s likely going to be heavily tilted in the 27-year-old Canelo’s favor. If the Golovkin had been given the win over Canelo last September in their fight on the 16th on HBO PPV, then he would at least be able to get a 50-50 deal. But the judges did Canelo a big favor by giving him a 12 round draw instead of a clear loss.

This will be another fight televised on HBO pay-per-view, but with 3 different judges than the ones that scored the previous Canelo-GGG fight last September. Those judges will not be working the fight. The fight ended in controversy with Golovkin appearing to win, but the assigned judges from the Nevada State Athletic Commission scoring it a draw. The outcome was heavily criticized by the boxing world, who felt that Golovkin had won the fight by 4 to 6 rounds by a 9 to 3 or 8 to 4.

The question that a lot of boxing fans have is whether Golovkin, 35, will be treated fairly by the judges for the rematch. There’s a belief going around the sport that Golovkin can only beat Canelo by knockout, and that he will never be given a decision win over him. The reason for this belief is 3 past fights in which Canelo had dodged losses against Golovkin, Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara.

A lot of boxing fans thought Canelo lost those fights. Golovkin obviously knows what he’s getting himself into in facing Canelo a second time, so perhaps he feels confident that he can take the judges out of play by knocking the Golden Boy star out cold on May 5th. It would be such shame if Canelo avoids another loss by questionable scoring by the judges.

“I am ready to battle Canelo again and am happy he took this fight again,” said Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. “This is the fight the world wants. This is the fight boxing deserves. I didn’t agree with some of the judges’ decisions in the first fight. This time there will be no doubt. I am leaving the ring as THE middleweight champion of the world.”

Golovkin was celebrated as the victor by many boxing fans last September, while Canelo was booed even by his own fans after the fight at the T-Mobile. It’s now up to Canelo to try and prove that he’s not a pampered fighter, protected from losses by poor scoring.

The last time Golovkin fought Canelo, the judges scored it 118-110 for Canelo, 115-113 for Golovkin and 114-114. Boxing News 24 scored the fight 9 rounds to 3 in favor of Triple G. Canelo was depleted and done after round 2. He was exhausted and unable to do anything for the remainder of the fight other than throwing a few sporadic shots.