By Allan Fox: A thin-looking Saul Canelo Alvarez weighed in at 167.4 pounds on Tuesday for his 30-day weigh-in San Diego, California for his rematch against IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.
Canelo weighed in under the 176 pound limit for the World Boxing Council in San Diego. For his past, GGG weighed in at slightly more at 168.3 pounds. Golovkin is preparing for the Canelo rematch at Big Bear, California. Canelo is training in San Diego.
Canelo and Triple G will be fighting on September 15 in a rematch at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both fighters are expected to stay close to their current weights. Canelo doesn’t dare lose more weight as he;s already looking thin to the point where his head looks too big for his body.
In looking at Canelo’s body dimensions, it’s clear that he was much heavier in his fight last September against Golovkin. Canelo doesn’t weight-in on the night of his fights for HBO after he rehydrates, but it’s been long speculated that he rehydrates into the 180s for his fights. This fight, however, may be a break from the routine for Canelo, because e’s trying to lose weight so that he can improve his stamina after gassing out after two rounds in his previous fight against GGG.
The fans are looking forward to the Canelo-GGG 2 rematch after the two fighters fought to a 12 round draw last year in September in Las Vegas. The fight will be televised on HBO PPV.
Canelo (49-1-2, 34 KOs) was supposed to fight Golovkin earlier this year on May 5th, but the fight was canceled after Alvarez tested positive twice for clenbuterol. Canelo blamed he tests on having eaten contaminated beef in Mexico. The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Canelo for six months anyway. Canelo’s suspension ends this month. Golovkin continues to be furious at Canelo for having tested positive for a banned substance and ruining their previously scheduled May 5th rematch. That’s one of the reasons why Golovkin insisted on getting a bigger split than last time. His split for the Canelo rematch is 55-45. Canelo will still get a bigger split, but not the lion’s share that he enjoyed for the first fight.
Canelo has been out of the ring for a year now, and he’s returning from knee surgery as well. Golovkin has stayed busy, beating replacement opponent Vanes Martirosyan by a 2nd round knockout on May 5th. Golovkin made easy work of a fighter who would have likely given Canelo a lot of problems. That fight showed that Golovkin is lethal when he’s fighting in his normal style of slugging. He’s a much better fighter than when he’s trying to box like he did against Canelo last year.
Canelo has the physique to push Golovkin last time they fought. Canelo was bigger and stronger back then. Canelo was able to use his size to force Golovkin out of his game, which was strange to see. Gaining all the weight helped and hurt Canelo, as he was exhausted after 45 seconds of each round. He would do well at the start of the round when he was fresh, but then he would wear himself out and wind up moving for the last two minutes. For the rematch, Canelo has slimmed down and he’s betting that he can fight harder and still back Golovkin off with his hand speed and power.
Obviously, Canelo’s power won’t be as good as it was last time due to his loss of muscle and size, but he’s banking on his speed helping him beat Golovkin. Will Canelo be as formidable in the rematch with his slimmer physique Canelo looks less strong than the last time he fought GGG. If Canelo’s stamina is improved for the second fight, he might be able to do damage if he can land more shots than he did in the first fight. Canelo’s size loss looks bad to some boxing fans, because they see it as an indication that he got help the last time he fought Golovkin. They think he was using clenbuterol even back then for help to gain strength and size. Canelo wants improved stamina for the second fight, and the only he’s got any chance of getting that is by coming in leaner, which he clearly will.