By Barry Holbrook: Enemies Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin and Saul Canelo Alvarez have a deal in place to meet in a trilogy fight on September 12 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas after the two take interim fights first in June, according to ESPN.
Some fans worry that Canelo won’t get credit if he beats Golovkin this time because GGG is coming off of a hard fight against Sergiy Derevyanchenko. The timing works against Canelo in fighting GGG after his bad performance last October against Derevyanchenko, but that still doesn’t mean he’s going to win.
Golovkin fought Canelo to a standstill in both of their fights despite being a lot older. The performances by GGG showed that he’s a superior fighter. If the ages of the two fighters were reversed and Canelo was 35 and fighting a 28-year-old Golovkin, it’s pretty clear who would have won those two fights, provided that quality judges were assigned to the fights
Canelo in a no-win situation against GGG
Given Golovkin’s last fight against Derevyanchenko, Canelo won’t get credit if he beats him. If Canelo struggles and ends up with another draw, boxing fans will conclude that he was never as good as GGG, And if Canelo loses to Golovkin, then he’s going to get hammered for the rest of his days and viewed as a fighter that was matched against a lot of old guys to make him look better than he actually was.
For the first time, Canelo will have a legitimate shot at beating Golovkin without controversy. GGG, 37, hasn’t looked like the same fighter he once was in his last two fights against Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Steve Rolls, and he could fall apart if Canelo presses him hard. Derevuanchenko had Golovkin in serious distress at ties in their fight last October.
If not for Derevyanchenko suffering a bad cut, he might have stopped Golovkin. Canelo hasn’t improved since his first fight with Golovkin. It’s more of a case of GGG getting older. If Canelo sticks around the sport until 37, we’ll likely see the same thing happening with him if he takes on a young lion with talent rather than going the easy route like we’ve been seeing lately from him.
Golovkin not able to hold his ground
If Golovkin gives ground as he did against Derevyanchenko, Canelo has a good chance of stopping him. Golovkin’s trainer Johnathon Banks told the media that he didn’t Golovkin backing off in any more of his fights like he did in his rematch with Canelo, but he still backed up in his last contest against Derevyanchenko.
That suggests that what Banks is telling Golovkin is going in one ear and out the other at this stage in his career. Golovkin isn’t following the instructions that he’s been given by Banks, and we saw the same thing when he was trained by Abel Sanchez. Golovkin was getting good instructions but he wasn’t doing what he had to do.
Alvarez faces Saunders on June 6
Canelo has a fight against Billy Joe Saunders on June 6th that he asked for, and Golovkin has a title defense of his IBF middleweight belt against Kamil Szeremeta on June 6 at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
‘I think they’re running out of opponents,” said promoter Frank Warren to secondsout on Canelo fighting Saunders. “That’s what happened. We [Saunders] had contracts signed to fight Golovkin twice. What killed the Canelo fight was when we were all sitting ringside out in Canada when David Lemieux got absolutely destroyed. I looked over at Eric Gomez [of Golden Boy Promotions], and he shook his head, and if I was him, I’d be shaking my head.
“They saw something. If anyone that can beat him, it’s Bill. Last time out, he didn’t look too good. He says that himself,” said Warren on Saunders’ last fight against Marcelo Esteban Coceres last November. “He done the job in the end, but he’ll have to be up for this one. I’m sure he will be up for it. It’s going to be a challenge.
Saunders has to be at the top of his game to beat Canelo
“He’s not going to go in there thinking he’s going to have an easy night’s work. He’s going to have to be at the top of his game to beat Canelo. I always felt that he [Saunders] had the beating of him [Canelo], and I hope he does do it. We’ll see on the night. I don’t even know if he’s [Saunders] been in training.
“If he’s not been in training, then he has to worry. If he is at his best, if he was at middleweight, I’d think Bill all day long. Canelo is a big guy. What’s he going to be like at super middle. That’s the only thing. Canelo went up to light heavyweight and came back down again. He’s going to be very strong at that weight. Bill has got a fantastic boxing brain. He’s got a great boxing brain,” said Warren.
Alvarez chose Saunders over Callum Smith
The Golden Boy star Canelo could have fought WBA super-middleweight champion Callum Smith, but he chose Saunders. DAZN wanted Canelo to fight Callum (27-0, 19 KOs), and he was said to less expensive than Saunders. But Canelo still wanted Saunders for some reason.
It’s difficult to know for sure why Canelo chose Saunders over Callum. One reason is perhaps Saunders is less dangerous due to his lack of power and the fact that he’s looked incredibly poor since moving up to the 168-lb division in 2019. Saunders is looking past his prime now, and he’s clearly struggling.
Another reason why Canelo could have chosen Saunder is he’s done a lot of trash talking over the years, and it would a fight that Alvarez could get motivated for. Boxing fans will assume that Canelo chose Saunders because he’s the easier option than taking the huge 6’3″ Callum, who is dangerous, and superior to Canelo’s past opponents Sergey Kovalev and Rocky Fielding.
Coronavirus could wipeout Canelo and GGG interim fights
Whether any of these fights happen will depend on the coronavirus pandemic. With all the cancellations of boxing careers, nothing is guaranteed right now. Unless GGG and Canelo want to take their interim fights behind closed doors, they’re going to need to count on the coronavirus situation improving.
The negotiations between Canelo and Golovkin not surprisingly was a difficult one. Hopefully, whatever money DAZN is paying the two, it’s worth it. The first two fights that took place between Canelo and GGG ended up with decisions that left boxing fans angry and no longer trusting of the judging for the fights.
Fans think Canelo was gifted a raw in the first GGG fight in 2017 and then given a gift 12 round decision in their rematch in 2018, which fight that looked like it should have been a draw. The two fights highlighted the problems with scoring fights. When it comes to judging boxing matches, it’s a subjective thing, and sometimes the A-side fighter has things go their way.
Golden Boy holding off on the announcement for Canelo-Saunders
The Canelo-GGG deal is done, but Golden Boy Promotions hasn’t made an official announcement of that fight or Canelo’s June fight Saunders. Golden Boy’s obvious reason for not making the announcement is the coronavirus pandemic, which has already led to cards being called off by the U.S promotional giant.
Although Canelo vs. Saunders still hasn’t been announced, it’s basically been postponed because it was supposed to take place on May 2, and it’s not going to be happening on that date. It might not even take place in June either. The fight is supposed to be announced this week.
If it doesn’t get announced, it’s not a big deal because U.S boxing fans don’t want to see Canelo fight Saunders. They want Canelo to fight GGG, Jermall Charlo or some of the talented super middleweight like David Benavidez or Caleb Plant. Saunders is more of a belt holder than a champion, and that’s why the fans aren’t excited about Canelo fighting him.
GGG wants the third fight with Canelo
Golovkin really wants the third fight with Canelo feeling that he was given the business from his two previous contests against the Mexican star. For Canelo, he hasn’t seemed as excited about fighting Golovkin again, but DAZN and the boxing public wants him to.
With the huge $365 million contract Canelo is getting with DAZN, they want him to fight good opposition. Thus far, Canelo has had two gimmes in Rocky Fielding and Sergey Kovalev and one good fight against Daniel Jacobs. Saunders arguably fits in the ‘gimme’ category’ unfortunately. He’s viewed by some as the worst of the champions at 168, which is why the fans aren’t excited at seeing Canelo fight him.