By Adam Baskin: Chris Algieri believes Canelo Alvarez is taking a “high risk” in facing 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17th because this is not a guy he’s supposed to lose to.
Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) is well past his prime, and he’s coming up in weight to battle undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) for his titles.
Given Golovkin’s age, recent uninspiring performances, and his coming up in weight to 168, Canelo has all the advantages.
This isn’t the same Golovkin that Canelo struggled to beat in 2018, so he should dominate him without any problems.
However, Canelo is coming off a loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol at 175 last May, and his self-confidence has taken a big hit from that defeat.
“It’s a fight that is a little late in the making, but I think it needed to happen. It would be silly to leave the money on the table for these two guys,” said Chris Algieri to Fight Hub TV about the trilogy match between Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin.
“I said it even before the Bivol fight because I had a good idea that Bivol was going to beat Canelo that night, and he did. But I said even then, if he does, it doesn’t matter. The fight [Canelo vs. Golovkin III] can still happen.
“Canelo took a big risk; he moved up in weight and fought a young champion, undefeated [Bivol]. He loses, but he really goes back to his true weight class to fight GGG.
“The question for me really is the weight. I’m curious about GGG at 168. He’s never fought at 168. So he’s moving up to fight Canelo for his undisputed titles. The age plus the weight, it could be a lot of questions for GGG and a lot to step up to,” said Aligieri.
Golovkin looked his age in his recent fight against Ryota Murata on April 9th, and he was lucky he wasn’t sharing the ring with a better fighter that night.
“I would agree,” Algieri said when told that Canelo’s promoter Eddie Hearn predicted the Golovkin fight won’t go past 12 rounds and would end by knockout. “I think an exclamation point needs to be put on the trilogy, and yeah, I could see that too.
“Both of these guys have the best chins in boxing, literally, the two of them. So we’ll see, but I can see it ending in a stoppage. I agree,” said Algieri when told that fans will downplay a Canelo victory by saying, ‘He should have beat him because GGG was old.’
“High risk, but not low reward because there’s a lot of money involved,” said Algieri about the fight being a high risk for Canelo, but not a low reward due to the huge purse the Mexican star will receive.
“We are prize fighters; we get paid for this stuff. I wouldn’t say low reward, but definitely high risk. He [Canelo] has a lot to lose, you’re right,” said Algieri.
