By Sean Jones: Gennadiy Golovkin was confused today when told by the media that Canelo Alvarez wants to fight him a third time. Like many fans, the highly popular IBF middleweight champion Golovkin (41-1-2, 36 KOs) has waited for four years before finally choosing to face him potentially in September.
Golovkin is now 40-years-old and appears to have lost a step or two from the last time he fought Canelo many years ago in 2018.
Some boxing fans wonder did Canelo intentionally wait until Golovkin got old before finally agreeing to fight him? I mean, it’s hard not to come to that conclusion, particularly looking at the mediocre bunch of fighters that Canelo has been padding his resume with since 2018.
Canelo has told his boxing fans that he’s focusing on his legacy by capturing world titles, but many believe that he’s been an opportunist, picking off one weak champion after another while seemingly swerving the Golvokin trilogy and a match against David Benavidez.
For the record, former four-division world champion Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) last fought Golovkin on September 15, 2018, winning a highly controversial 12 round majority decision.
Golovkin upset with Canelo
“I have been told by several reporters that Canelo wants to fight me again and this time it is personal,” said Golovkin.
“If it is so ‘personal,’ why has it taken him four years since our last fight? He pretends it is personal. I find it puzzling he would make such a claim.”
Instead of Canelo choosing to run it back for a third fight to clear up the doubt in the minds of boxing fans, he’s chosen to take another path, focusing on the weak bunch of paper champions at 168, and ripping the WBO 175-lb title from an old Sergey Kovalev.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDwqsu0P770
Golovkin is fighting a unification match this Saturday night on April 9th against WBA middleweight champion Ryota Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) on DAZN at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
This is a must-win fight for the 40-year-old Golovkin as if he loses to the dangerous punching Murata, he can forget about ever getting a chance to fight Canelo again.
The reality is, Golovkin wouldn’t be in a dire must-win position where he needs to fight Murata on his home turf in Japan if Canelo had given him his rematch years ago in 2019.
In front of the flashing lights… 📸@GGGBoxing and Ryota Murata are ready to go.#GGGMurata pic.twitter.com/m4DLdNK5Zj
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) April 7, 2022
Why did Canelo wait all this time before finally agreeing to fight GGG? Sean Jones has a pretty good idea why the Mexican star wanted nothing to do with Golovkin because he was too good, and he didn’t want to lose to him – again.
Sadly, there are many boxing fans that are now actively hoping that Murata, 36, beats Golovkin on Saturday night, as they feel that Canelo will massacre the shell of GGG later this year on September 17th.
The fans would prefer to see Canelo take on the winner of this summer’s 175-lb unification clash between IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and WBO champion Joe Smith Jr.
On Wednesday, Canelo’s trainer/manager Eddy Reynoso revealed that if Golovkin loses his fight against Murata on Saturday night, Saul will face the Beterbiev – Smith winner in September.
Fans feel that Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs), a real killer, would give Canelo a lot more problems to think about on September 17th than the 40-year-old Golovkin, who hasn’t looked spectacular in his last three fights since his rematch with Saul in 2018.
Canelo has his own problems to worry about, needing to beat WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7th before he potentially faces Golovkin in September.
For some reason, fans see Bivol as a sacrificial lamb, another Billy Joe Saunders fodder-level champion, that Canelo will slaughter on May 7th. Boy, will the fans be in for a big surprise if Bivol schools Canelo in the same way he did Joe Smith Jr and Jean Pascal.
It’s fair to say that the fans will be in shock for having gotten it so wrong about Bivol, and it’s going to put their view of Canelo in a whole new light.