By Sean Jones: Gennady Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) says Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) is not a true warrior like he was made out to be by him and the boxing public. Golovkin says Canelo is not a “true champion,” because he ran from him for 12 rounds last September in their fight on HBO pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya says Canelo will fight differently in the rematch with Triple G, but he’s not ready to guarantee that he’ll stand and fight. De La Hoya points out that Floyd Mayweather Jr. spent his entire career moving a lot in his fights. So, if Canelo needs to move in order to defeat Golovkin, De La Hoya is fine with that. Golovkin should assume that Canelo will use the same game plan as last time they fought, since he doesn’t have the stamina to brawl for 12 rounds.
”When he went into the ring, he stepped back and only ran,” Golovkin said to Yahoo Sports News about Canelo in their previous fight. ”Running. He only ran. … He’s not like a warrior. He’s not like a Mexican fighter. Not like a true champion.”
Despite the hype, Canelo will never be in the same league as Mexican greats of the past like Salvador Sanchez and Julio Cesar Chavez. The reason Canelo can’t be like them is he doesn’t possess their stamina, and he’s never shown the desire to go to war like those fighters did during their careers. Canelo only goes to war when he’s fighting smaller, weaker opposition than him like Liam Smith and James Kirkland.
Canelo ran from Austin Trout, and even in his fight against Mayweather. The basic problem that Canelo has is he doesn’t have the engine to stand and fight for three minutes in each round. He absolutely needs to take rest breaks for him to be able to do well. Canelo is a short burst fighter, who is good for five to ten second bursts, but then needs long rest breaks. Golovkin must take away Canelo’s ability to rest. The best way for GGG to do that is to stay close to Canelo and force him to throw punches for three minutes of each round.
”It’s going to be a really intense fight, so look, if Canelo moves a little bit and doesn’t want to get hit, then so be it,” De La Hoya said to Yahoo Sports News. ”That’s what boxing is, I guess, right? Floyd Mayweather has done it all his career.”
It sounds like De La Hoya is prepared for the 27-year-old Alvarez to do a bit of running against Golovkin. The reality is, De La Hoya doesn’t have any inside information on how Canelo will choose to fight Golovkin in the rematch. If you want a clue in how Canelo will fight GGG, all you have to do is look at their previous fight. Canelo wanted to stand and fight, but his poor stamina prevented him from doing so. That’s not going to change by the time they step inside the ring for the rematch on September 15. Canelo has ALWAYS had a lousy engine, even when he was 19-years-old. Canelo is now eight years older and is approaching 30.
It’s obvious that Canelo’s conditioning is never going to be good enough for him to fight hard for a sustained period without gassing out. That’s why you can expect Canelo to run from GGG just like he did last time, because he literally can’t stand and fight him the way a warrior would. If Canelo stands and fights Golovkin, it’ll be curtains for him. As soon as Caneo gasses out, Golovkin will obliterate him. That’s why it’s crucial for Golovkin to stay on top of Canelo from the first round in order to wear him out and score a fast knockout in the first six rounds. Canelo will not survive for long against GGG if he’s forced to fight him.