By Dan Ambrose: Matchroom Boxing has just confirmed the trilogy match between undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin on September 17th will be staged at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The first two Canelo vs. Golovkin fights were staged at the T-Mobile and both controversial results left boxing fans feeling less than happy with the outcome. Even many of Canelo’s fans weren’t pleased with how the judges scored the fights, which appeared to have been won by Golovkin.
Last May, Canelo lost to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol by a 12-round unanimous decision at the T-Mobile Arena, with the three judges turning in identical scores of 115-113 in a fight that many boxing fans felt was a vast victory for the champ.
Given the controversy surrounding the first two fights between Canelo and Golovkin, in addition to the scoring in Alvarez’s recent match against Bivol at the T-Mobile, it would have been better for the contest to be staged in a different venue.
With the history behind those three fights, Canelo should have chosen to place the trilogy match with Golovkin in Southern California or New York.
Having the third Canelo-GGG fight at the T-Mobile won’t be a big deal if the result is a decisive one with a knockout or a lopsided decision, but it’s unlikely to happen. Canelo doesn’t throw enough punches to knock out Golovkin, and likewise, GGG isn’t going to KO the granite-chinned Mexican star.
Canelo wisely waited four years since his last fight with then 36-year-old Golovkin before finally choosing to face him again and has a better chance of defeating him without controversy.
The 40-year-old Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) has fought only four times since his loss to Canelo in 2018, and he’s not looked sharp, particularly in his last fight in April against WBA 160-lb champion Ryota Murata.
1️⃣ 16 Sept 2017 ✔️
2️⃣ 15 Sept 2018 ✔️
3️⃣ 17 Sept 2022 🔜It’s only fitting the @TMobileArena in Las Vegas hosts the @Canelo vs @GGGBoxing trilogy 👊👊👊#CaneloGGG3 pic.twitter.com/TbWZ29vWmu
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) June 21, 2022
The money from the T-Mobile must make it worthwhile for Canelo to keep staging the fights there.
That’s the only explanation this writer can figure out for why Canelo keeps returning to the same place despite the criticism he’s received for the scoring.
Canelo has nothing to do with the way the judges score his fights, but it’s got to bother him that some fans think the judges are giving him scoring that fans don’t agree with.
