By Sean Jones: Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) says he’s going to make it a point to attack Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s midsection in their rematch on May 5th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
If Golovkin attacks Canelo to the body on May 5th, we may see an early knockout, because that is clearly the Achilles heel of the Mexican star. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Austin Trout both hurt Canelo with body shots. Canelo spent the second half of his fight with Trout on the ropes after being hurt with a body shot in the 7th. If Golovkin sees Canelo going to the ropes after he’s hit hard to the body, then he needs to see that as him having been hurt.
Golovkin rarely threw to the body against the fleet of foot Canelo last September in their first fight. Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez says the reason he didn’t throw more body shots was because of the movement that Canelo used in the fight. He also says Canelo was turning his back to Golovkin when he’d throw body shots. Mostly though, it looked like Golovkin’s game plan was to box Canelo from the outside using his jab and body shots weren’t part of the game.
When Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat Canelo in 2013, he wasn’t criticized afterwards for not throwing body shots during the fight. Mayweather threw mostly jabs and single right hands. Mayweather wasn’t going to take a chance of throwing a body shot and then getting countered by Canelo. When you win the fight, you don’t get criticized nearly as much for not throwing body shots as you do when you’re held to a 12 round draw.
“Yes, I believe I bring this point on May 5th. I show you on May 5th,” Golovkin said to Fighthub when asked if he’ll throw more body shots against Canelo. ”I believe I show you on May 5th, this is new Triple G,” GGG said in talking about wanting to be more aggressive in the second fight.
Golovkin might be better to aim his shots to Canelo’s midsection if he’s going to be moving his head constantly to avoid shots. Canelo will turn his back to Golovkin obviously when he throws body shots so he can get the referee to warn him not to throw to the midsection. But if the referee has his head screwed on straight and isn’t utterly clueless to Canelo’s tricks when it comes to turning his back to avoid body shots, he’ll ignore him when he looks at him for sympathy when he’s nailed in the back.
Hopefully, Canelo doesn’t resort to turning his back to Golovkin when he throws body shots, because you would have never seen Mexican greats in the past using that tactic. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Salvador Sanchez didn’t play to the referee when they were hit with body shots. They also didn’t run from their opponents like Canelo did with Golovkin last September.
Golovkin has had time to digest what he did wrong in the first fight with Canelo, and what he did right. It’s easy to see that Golovkin was at his best when he started pressuring Canelo more from rounds 7 to 12. Some boxing fans think Canelo got the better of Golovkin in the last three rounds of the fight, but the facts don’t bear that out. Canelo was only fighting a small portion of rounds 10, 11 and 12. Golovkin was attacking him a lot better than he had in the first 4 rounds of the fight.
Golovkin fought like he was afraid of Canelo in the early going. He was treating Canelo with too much respect. Golovkin can’t fight like that in the early part of the rematch otherwise he’ll give away too many crucial rounds. Golovkin has to remember that he’s going back to Canelo’s venue in his city. Las Vegas is Canelo’s city where he chooses to fight, and the T-Mobile is his home. Golovkin needs to know that any close rounds will likely automatically be scored to the home fighter Canelo. To take that advantage, Golovkin will need to do a lot more than he did last time because he’ll be a guy with a big advantage when it comes to the judges.
”Of course we both need be more aggressive,” Golovkin said. “Not a lot, no. I know this is bad day for him and bad day for me. Right now this is new story, new fight, and everything’s new,” Golovkin said about Canelo’s hand speed not being a surprise to him.
Canelo started out fast, but he seemed to lose his as he tired in the later rounds. When Golovkin was all over Canelo, he had a big advantage over him. Canelo lost his power on shots when he couldn’t get rest breaks, and he was vulnerable during those times. What saved Canelo from being knocked out in the fight were his legs. He was able to run away from Golovkin to get space to survive. Without Canelo being able to get his breaks, he would have been battered into submission. It wouldn’t have mattered how much head movement he used to escape the punches. Canelo would have been hit with enough of Golovkin’s chopping shots to be taken out. So, for Canelo his running was his key to surviving last time. It was his lifeline, because he’s not a middleweight in the real sense, and he’ll never be able to stand and fight a guy like Golovkin, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Jermall Charlo or Daniel Jacobs. Those guys will always have his number due to their larger frames and their willingness to stand and fight.