By Sean Jones: Saul Canelo Alvarez has been saying for months that he plans on taking the fight Gennady Golovkin in their rematch. However, Canelo now is saying that Golovkin needs his opponents to be stationary like a punching bag for him to score a knockout.
Canelo (49-1-2, 34 KOs) isn’t coming right out and saying that he plans on being evasive in their rematch on September 15, but it’s starting to sound like that’s what the plan is for the 27-year-old Golden Boy star. In the previous Canelo-Golovkin fight last September, Alvarez disappointed millions when he decided to stay on the move for 12 rounds against Golovkin in their fight on HBO pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The decision by Canelo to move for 12 rounds cost him whatever chance he had to win the fight, as two of the judges didn’t view his mobile style as being good enough for him to deserve the victory.
“All of the opponents that he’s knocked out have stayed on the ropes or in front of him. That’s what he wants, to have a bag right there to knock out,” Canelo said to the latimes.com.
Instead of Golovkin and his trainer Abel Sanchez being upset with Canelo for him being unwilling to slug with him, they need to understand that he has no choice but to fight like that. Canelo doesn’t have the gas tank to fight anyone for three minutes of each round in a fast pace fight. He couldn’t even do that when he was 22-years-old in his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013. Canelo gassed out badly each time Mayweather would force him to fight hard. Given Canelo’s limitations, GGG and Sanchez need to understand that he only has one way of fighting them and that’s to run and take plenty of rest breaks against the ropes. Instead of complaining about Canelo fighting this way, they need to see it through his eyes. It would be a complete disaster for Canelo if he stood and fought Golovkin in a stationary manner. Canelo would exhaust himself almost immediately and get knocked out if he brawled for three minutes each round.
Golovkin isn’t the only one who has problems knocking out opponents that move for 12 rounds. A lot of top fighters have problems stopping runners. When a fighter decides that his main objective is not to get knocked out, it’s hard for their opponents to knock them out, especially when they have a good chin like Canelo. But when you’re challenge trying to capture three world titles against an unbeaten champion on HBO PPV, you owe it to the boxing fans to stand and fight instead of just looking to not get knocked out. That’s the main argument that Golovkin, his trainer Abel Sanchez and boxing fans had with Canelo’s decision to move for 12 rounds. It hurt the entertainment value of the fight. Sanchez says it’s up to Canelo to stand and fight this time and not ruin the fight by running for 12 rounds to keep from getting knocked out. Sanchez says he doesn’t know who will win the fight if the two of them stand and have a dog fight. What Sanchez does know is he boxing fans will be entertained if GGG and Canelo stand and go to war from beginning to end on September 15 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite the tough talk from Alvarez, Sanchez doubts that he’ll be more aggressive in the rematch than he was in the first fight. Sanchez just doesn’t think Canelo’s mindset will allow him to stand and fight Golovkin.
“Honestly, I’m not,” Sanchez said to the latimes.com. ”The onus is on him because the fans are ripping him as it is right now, on social media. If he does it again, the fans are going to continue ripping him. If he’s willing to put up with, that’s OK. There’s nothing we can do about that.”
Golovkin will need to be ready for the bag of tricks that Canelo and his trainers Chepo and Edy Reynoso will have for him on September 15, because it’s clear that the younger fighter isn’t going to stand and fight him. It’s likely that Canelo will use movement and holding to keep Golovkin from getting his shots off. The only guys that Golovkin has had problems with in the pros and amateurs are fighters that used either movement or a combination of holding & wrestling against him. In the amateur ranks, Golovkin lost to Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov and Mohamed Hikal. They used clinching, wrestling and shoving to get the better of Golovkin. It still appeared that Golovkin won both of those fights, but with the strange scoring that the amateur ranks is known for; he wound up losing the fights. What’s clear though from watching those fights is Golovkin had problems with being held constantly by them. Canelo has never been a clincher/wrestler during his 13-year pro career, but he’d also never been a mover before he fought Golovkin. Canelo showed a no wrinkle to his game by using a hit and run style against GGG last September. Since it’s unlikely that moving for 12 rounds will work as well as it did last time, Canelo will need to come up with a new strategy for him to trick Golovkin on September 15. Above all, the short 5’8” Canelo can’t stand and fight Golovkin because he lacks the stamina, power and size to win that kind of a fight. If Canelo tries to fight Golovkin in the rematch, he’ll gas out badly after two or three rounds and wind up getting socked around the ring like a punching bag before his trainers need to pull him out to save his career.
Golovkin thinks Canelo is a dirty fighter because of his positive tests for clenbuterol earlier this year. He still thinks Canelo is a cheater.
”He’s the most unpleasant and dirtiest opponent I’ve ever had … dirty in the taking of substances that are prohibited and trying to blame other people,” Golovkin said. “It’s a personal problem. Canelo broke [boxing] law, did some dirty things and his whole team supported this. This fight is more personal for him than me. His team is trying to do anything it can to rehabilitate itself,” Golovkin said.
Canelo is being tested for performance enhancing drugs for the rematch on September 15, just as Golovkin is. However, that doesn’t make Golovkin feel good about Canelo having tested positive twice for clenbuterol earlier this year and blaming it on eating contaminated beef. Due to the controversial 12 round draw from the first fight against GGG and the two positive tests for clenbtuerol last February, it’s even more important that he defeat Gennady in the rematch on September 5. Canelo needs a win in the worst way over Golovkin to rehabilitate his image with the boxing public. Another controversial result that saves him from a loss will hurt Canelo’s career. That’s why a knockout by Canelo would be the best possible thing for him. He can’t afford to win another decision because the boxing fans will likely be split over who they felt deserved the win unless it’s a completely one-sided victory for the redheaded star. It’s hard to see Canelo winning a one-sided decision against Golovkin due to his conditioning problems. Canelo’s need to take long rest breaks in each round lets Golovkin dominate the major portions of the rounds. When you have one guy doing two-thirds more work than his opponent, like we saw in the first Canelo-Golovkin fight, then it doesn’t look good when the fight is scored a 12 round draw. Canelo has to score a knockout in this fight if he’s unable to dominate Golovkin by a decision.