By Jim Dower: Saul Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin successfully weighed in on Friday for their rematch his Saurday night on HBO pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Canelo (49-1-2, 34 KOs) weighed in at 159.4 pounds and looked in good shape. For his part, Golovkin weighed in slightly heavier at 159.6 pounds.
After the weigh-in, the fighters had a scuffle during their face-off after Canelo walked up to GGG and placed his head up against his. Canelo lost his cool when Golovkin pushed him back with his head. At that point, both camps moved in quickly to separate the two fighters. Canelo’s trainer Eddy Reynoso shoved one of Golovkin’s team members. It looked theatrical, especially after we saw the same type of thing when middleweights David Lemieux and Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan stood for a face-off.
It looked like Canelo never had any intention of standing for a face-off with Golovkin because he lost his cool right off the bat after he walked up to him. Some boxing fans might interpret that as a sign of guilt on Canelo’s part or shame in perhaps not wanting to look GGG in the eyes. Canelo tested positive twice for clenbuterol earlier this year, and Golovkin has been saying how disappointed he is with the Mexican fighter ever since then. Golovkin didn’t buy into the excuse Canelo gave about having eaten tainted beef. He believes he purposefully used clenbuterol.
”I see he’s like a clown,” Golovkin said when asked what he saw in Canelo’s eyes when he stood briefly for a face-off with him. ”He’s not a true guy. You will see a real war. This is not a fight. This is special fight. I want [a knockout]. This is a gift for you tomorrow night. This is a big present tomorrow,” Golovkin said.
Golovkin seemed irritated at the antics from Canelo, but he also didn’t seem surprised either. Golovkin feels that Canelo has shown his true face with the things that took place before and after their previous fight last September. Besides the two positive clenbuterol tests from Canelo, GGG’s camp were unhappy with the way that he had his hands wrapped for the fight. Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez said that Canelo’s hands were stacked with tape in what he referred to as a cast.
”We’re going to enjoy an exciting victory,” Canelo said after the weigh-in. ”I defeated the weigh-in and I’m going to defeat him on Saturday.”
Golovkin says he wants to KO Canelo on Saturday night. GGG will need to go on the attack a little more if he wants to get a stoppage win.
”I’m going to destroy him,” Golovkin said.
Former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (39-4, 33 KOs) weighed in a 160 pounds for his 12 round fight against Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan (28-2, 20 KOs) on Saturday. O’Sullivan weighed in at 159.2 pounds. Lemieux looked sickly and weak, which is becoming a norm for him at his weigh-ins nowadays due to him struggling to make weight. He had dark circles under both eyes and his face looked badly draw. When it came time for the face-off, O’Sullivan put up his fists in what appeared to be an old fashioned pose from a bygone era. Lemieux was alarmed by the pose and had to be pulled away. As weak as Lemieux looked, he wasn’t going to be able to do much against O’Sullivan. Lemieux looked in bad shape from dehydration.
”I could smell the fear and he was anxious,” O’Sullivan said in being interviewed after the weigh- in. ”He’s shi—ing himself right now. That’s what gets under my skin. You’re getting knocked the f—k out.”
This is a hard fight to predict because both fighters are so evenly matched. Lemieux only loses to good fighters. It’s unclear whether O’Sullivan fits that category, however, because he’s been beating weak opposition his entire career. When O’Sullivan did step it up a level against Chris Eubank Jr. and Billy Joe Saunders, he was beaten by both of them. O’Sullivan has won his last six fights after his management backed him off from fighting good opposition after his loss to Chris Eubank Jr. in 2015. The opposition that O’Sullivan has been fighting lately has been less than talented.
World Boxing Organization junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia (30-0, 25 KOs) weighed in 154 pounds for his title defense agains Brandon Cook (20-1, 13 KOs) on Saturday night. Cook weighed in at 153.2 pounds.
”I’m excited to bring you guys an exciting fight tomorrow,” Munguia said. ”This fight is going to end in an exciting knockout. I’m not going to let it go to the judges.”
This is Munguia’s second defense of his WBO title that he won four months ago with a 4th round knockout win over Sadam Ali on May 12. Two months after winning the title, Munguia made his first defense of his best in beating former WBO junior middleweight title against Liam Smith on July 21. Now two months after that win. Munguia is making another defense of his WBO title against Brandon Cook. It appears that Munguia’s co-promoters at Golden Boy Promotion are going to try and keep him busy by having him fight a lot to increase his popularity in a real hurry in the same way that K2 Promotions made a star out of GGG by keeping him busy defending his title a lot. It worked for Golovkin but largely because of how talented he is. Munguia, 21, is going to need to prove that he can beat the good fighters in the division for him to be taken seriously. Munguia said that he’s open to facing the other champions at 154 in Jarrett Hurd and Jermell Charlo in 2019. However, that’s going to be up to his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions if they want to put him in with fighters as advanced as those two.
”I know he’s a tough champion,” Brandon Cook said. ”I didn’t come to lose. I’m ready to go, that’s it. It’s a dream to fight for a world title. He’s one of the best up and coming kids.”
Cook, 32, is a fighter in demand by the top fighters recently. It’s clear that Cook is seen as a beatable guy, and that’s the reason why he’s finding himself sought after by the top guys in the division right now.
Former four division world champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (46-2, 38 KOs) weighed at 114.8 pounds for his 10 round fight against Moises Fuentes (25-5-1, 14 KOs). For his part, Fuentes weighed in at 116 pounds.
”I hope he comes to fight,” Fuentes said about Gonzalez. ”It’s going to be a good fight. I’m willing to die in the ring. Roman Gonzalez, I hope you come ready prepared. Thank you for the opportunity.”
