By Sean Jones: Gennadiy Glovkin must prove himself in his third fight with Canelo Alvarez to all the doubters, who see him as being one-dimensional and too old to win.
The fans and the many fighters that are counting IBF middleweight champion Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) out for the third match against Canelo Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) are forgetting how close the first to contests were between them. Golovkin appeared to win the first fight and Canelo the second in the eyes of fans.
Former world champions Danny Garcia and Jarrett Hurd don’t want to see Canelo and GGG fight again. They feel that the first two fights were razor close, and the third will be just the same. For that reason, they want Canelo to move on fight other guys.
Danny says he doesn’t want to see Canelo Alvarez and Golovkin take any additional punishment because they’ve both went through a lot in their two fights. Canelo was hurt twice in the rematch with GGG and was lucky that the Kazakhstan fighter didn’t start pressuring him earlier.
Like all sports, boxing has temporarily been stopped with the pandemic, but it should be back up in running at some point this year. Canelo and Golovkin have an agreement to fight in September, and this is a match that boxing fans are looking forward to in 2020.
It’s taken long enough for the two warriors to face each other, but Canelo, 29, hasn’t had the motivation to want to face GGG again. He still thinks he won both fights despite fans believing otherwise, and he’s taking mostly easy fights against Sergey Kovalev, Rocky Fielding, and Danny Jacobs.
Canelo and GGG took a lot of punishment in the first two fights
“Canelo and GGG? Nah, I don’t want to see it again. I’m pretty sold on it,” said Jarrett Hurd to KO Artists Sports. “I feel like whenever the fight is going to play, it’s going to be a close fight as always. It’s going to come down to the wire, and it can go either way.
“I feel like we’re going to see the same fight again, and I think the correct decision went to the right fighter in the last fight, Canelo. I think the match should have gone to GGG. But you know they’re great champions, and I think it’s time for Canelo to move on from GGG thing. I want to see him fight with Jermall Charlo. Let’s see if it happens,” said Hurd.
“I don’t want to see it. Them guys took a lot of punishment,” said Danny Garcia when asked if he wants to see the trilogy match between Canelo and GGG. “You might not know that, but those two fights [between Canelo and Golovkin] were a lot physically and mentally was a lot,” said Garcia.
DAZN and the boxing world wants to see Canelo face Triple G a third time, and that’s enough for it to happen. The streaming giant DAZN is paying Canelo a lot of money with the $365 million contract they gave him. They obviously want value for their money.
It would be great for Canelo if he just ignored Golovkin, and continued fighting opposition like Sergey Kovalev and Rocky Fielding. However, those types of guys aren’t going to bring in the subscribers to DAZN. If Canelo wanted to take it easy with his career, then he shouldn’t have signed with DAZN.
Canelo vs. Golovkin 3 is a toss-up
“The build-up is going into the two fights, the fights, the cuts, and the faces. You want to see good fights, but you don’t want to see nobody get damaged. I think they could get damaged off those fights,” said Garcia on Canelo and Gennadiy. And I thought GGG won the first one and I thought Canelo won the second one.
“I think it’s going to be one of those fights where it’s going to be an entertaining fight again, and it’s going to be a close fight again, and people will want to see a fourth fight. It’s one of those fights where they’re equally matched, and it just depends on who shows up that night,” said Garcia in breaking down Canelo vs. GGG 3.
Canelo is going to need to face GGG this year, and earn the money he’s receiving from his lucrative contract with DAZN. As it stands, Golovkin is up 1-0-1 in the eyes of the hardcore boxing fans. They think he beat Canelo in the first fight and drew in the second. It’s up to Canelo now to even the score at 1-1.
Golovkin won’t be the same in the third fight
“I don’t see Canelo running anymore or boxing because he knows how to fight GGG to pressure and get the win,” said Abner Mares. “With GGG, as brutal and hard as it sounds, is one-dimensional. He’s a come forward type of fighter that gives us action, pushing with that jab. He’s got a tremendous jab, and it was there all night.
“The uppercuts were there all night, and he’s that type of fighter,” said Mares about Golovkin. “So if they were to fight again, it would be that type of exciting fight, but a slower, tired GGG. I mean, let’s be real.
This fight took a lot out of him. He’s going to come back, and he’s not going to be the same, and I feel Canelo might take it easier,” said Mares in predicting a victory for Canelo in the trilogy match with Golovkin.
GGG may not be the same fighter in the third fight with Canelo as he was in the first, but his punching power will be the same. That might be more than enough for Golovkin to give Canelo a lot of problems Golovkin’s a hard jab, and his brute strength is something that Canelo will need to deal with.
Although Canelo doe a good job of using head movement to avoid a lot of Golovkin’s punches, he still gets hit. It doesn’t matter how much head movement Canelo uses, Golovkin is going to nail him.
Canelo hasn’t had a hard fight since his match with Jacobs in 2019, and he could have problems.
Canelo’s body shots were key
“Canelo has moved up a division since I last fought him, and he had a great game plan in pushing GGG back,” said Josesito Lopez. “Those body punches [from Canelo] were really effective at slowing GGG down. I don’t think anybody has landed punches like GGG before, so it was somewhat new to GGG.
“It was a very game, world-class fighter in GGG, and it was as good a competitive fight as it could have been. Canelo pulled off the victory by just a little bit. It was that good of a fight that people would want to see it again, and it was competitive. It wasn’t a clear victory for Canelo, but it sure was a victory. The attention that it brought and had was great. It was easily as competitive fight as it could be in the middleweight division. So why not do it again?” said Lopez on Canelo fighting Golovkin a third time.
“I think Canelo is more of a boxing savant than GGG,” said John Molina. “GGG is a great fighter. I can’t say he’s not a great fighter. He can move, he can punch, and he’s done well. He’s had an extensive amateur career. I think if anyone can make adjustments, Canelo is the guy that proved that he can make adjustments.” said Molina.
Canelo really didn’t throw that many body shots in the rematch with Golovkin. In the entire fight, Canelo perhaps threw more no more than seven. When he did try and throw body shots in the 10th and 11th, Golovkin stunned him. It might be too risky for Canelo to attempt to throw body shots in the rematch because he’ll leave himself open to Golovkin’s counters.
Golovkin needs to start earlier – Molina Jr
“Maybe start a little earlier,” said Molina Jr. when asked what Golovkin can do to turn the tables against Canelo in a third fight. “I think the first half of the fight was Canelo all day, moving, doing well, and I think GGG maybe should have started a little earlier. Can he start a little earlier? People are going to say, ‘No.’ Maybe his age is going to play a factor.”
“That’d be like the pot calling the kettle black, right? I’m about the same age as GGG. But with that being said, GGG started boxing at eight. I didn’t start boxing until I was 18, so there lies the difference. But for GGG to make it a different fight, he has to start a little earlier [against Canelo]. I’m not a trainer, but that’s just my opinion,” said Molina.
“Why would they go for a third one when he beat him twice?” said Gervonta Davis on his belief that Canelo has beaten GGG twice. “I wouldn’t go for a third one. Send me the next guy. I don’t want to fight him no more. I didn’t watch the first one, but I watched the second one,” said Davis on the Canelo vs. Golovkin rivalry.
“The second one, I know he [Canelo] won for sure. I didn’t watch the first one. And I believe Canelo is a good fighter. I think that loss against Floyd [Mayweather] helped him a lot,” said Tank Davis.
Golovkin does need to start a lot earlier in the third fight with Canelo if he wants to win. If there’s one criticism you can give to Golovkin, it’s the fact that he started slow in the first two matches against Canelo.
