By Sean Jones: Saul Canelo Alvarez says a trilogy match with former IBF/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin means nothing to him now. Canelo (52-1-2, 35 KOs) feels he’s closed the door on his rivalry with Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) after his win against him last year in September 2018. He’s now more interested in creating boxing history by going after big fights like his November 2 match against WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
Canelo not fighting GGG in trilogy match will be upsetting news
For the millions of boxing fans interested in seeing Canelo and Golovkin fight a third time, it’s going to be upsetting for them not to see them facing each other again. Additionally, DAZN won’t be happy about Canelo walking away from his rivalry with GGG. DAZN is paying Canelo $360 million for his 11-fight contract. They obviously expected Canelo to fight Golovkin at least once as part of that 11-fight contract.
“It’s a challenge for me, and I want to make history in boxing. Therefore, it’s what I have to do to make history,” said Canelo to secondsout. “That’s my normal weight 178, 180, and I hope my fight will be at that. I believe it’s going to be a hard fight, but I believe I can adapt to his style, and win the fight. I am a fighter that hits the body, and it will not be anything different. Once I’m in the ring, that’s what I’m going to implement. If it works even better. The reality is he doesn’t represent anything for me,” said Canelo when asked if he’ll fight Golovkin a third time.
If Canelo doesn’t elect to fight Golovkin again, there’s going to be intense pressure on him to fight tough fighters like Callum Smith, David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Artur Beterbiev, Dmitry Bivol and Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Those are the guys that boxing fans are going to expect Canelo to be facing.
Saul Alvarez: It doesn’t matter what people think
“The big challenges for me is what I’m doing [facing Kovalev at 175],” said Canelo. “So he doesn’t represent any challenge for me. I’ve done what I had to do, so this is it, and that’s the truth. For me it’s important to create history. I’m always going to select the greatest challenges to make history, and that’s what’s important to me to make history in boxing. I feel I am the best, and that’s why I am where I am. Whatever people think, it doesn’t matter to me. I feel I’m at the best right now, and that’s why I am where I’m at,” said Canelo.
It should matter to Canelo what people think about him, because they’re the ones that will – or won’t – be watching him on DAZN. If Canelo is viewed as a guy that’s dodging Golovkin, he’ll lose boxing fans. The reality is Canelo doesn’t have a lot of options at 160 for him to fight in terms of big names. If he’s not going to fight Jermall Charlo, because he’s with Premier Boxing Champions, then he’ll have limited choices at 160. Canelo vs. Demetrius Andrade won’t interest fans, and neither will a fight between him and Ryota Murata.
Canelo says he considers his business with GGG settled and he’s not motivated to fight him a third time. A reporter told Canelo that Oscar De La Hoya said he would fight GGG a third time. Canelo said Oscar says “many things that don’t make any sense”
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) September 19, 2019