By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez is coming into tonight’s fight with a lot of hatred for his opponent Gennadiy Golovkin.
It’s going to be difficult for Canelo to use his anger to his benefit because he lacks the stamina to fight aggressively for a prolonged period.
In Canelo’s last fight, he had nothing left after two rounds against Dmitry Bivol, and was totally schooled for the last ten rounds.
The dislike Canelo has for Golovkin could backfire on him if he swings for the fences and exhausts himself as we saw in the second fight.
Canelo had nothing left after six rounds and essentially lost the last six round to Golovkin.
Surprisingly, the judges still gave Canelo the victory, whereas it should have been either a draw or a win for Golovkin, considering he’d fought well enough to win one of the first six rounds.
Despite Canelo dodging two defeats in fights that involved questionable scoring by the Nevada judges, he’s been stewing in his resentment towards Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) for the last four years.
Tonight, Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) wants to get his pound of flesh against the 40-year-old Golovkin to help lessen that bitterness.
The boxing public can only hope the outcome isn’t controversial like the first two contests, and the judges score the fight in a reasonable manner.
We can’t afford to have oddball scoring like the 10-2 score handed in by one judge in favor of Canelo as we saw in the first fight. One could arguably come up with a better score than that if you had a blindfold on during the contest.
“One of the most, yeah,” said Canelo Alvarez to TMZ Sport when asked if this is the angriest he’s been for a fight during his career. “I’m so hungry and so motivated for this fight. I hate that guy so much.
“I don’t know. In the second fight, he started talking s*** about me, so we’ll see,” Canelo said when asked if he’ll be friends with Golovkin after tonight’s fight.
“He’s still strong. I saw him in his last fight [against Ryota Murata]. He’s still strong. I think he’s going to bring all for his fight. He’s going to be more dangerous because he thinks this is his last fight. I prepare myself for the best Golovkin,” said Canelo.
“GGG, he took over. When he came to the States, he knocked out everybody they put in front of him,” said Sergio Mora to DAZN’s Jabs. “It’s not his fault who they match him up with.
“He was the big drama show, and he ended it in fantastic fashion. He had everybody clamoring to watch GGG fights. He had Mexican style, and the Mexicans loved him. He had that aura about him.
“I think not only is he Hall of Fame material, but he’s one of the greatest middleweights to ever put on gloves. That’s a lot to carry with; that’s a big burden.
“Just because he doesn’t have the names associated with his record doesn’t make him any less great,” Mora said about Golovkin. “He beat Canelo the first time around, whether he didn’t get the decision or not.
“People already know that. The second time was another close fight. This third fight, I believe, and a lot of people in the business, we’re going to get a clear winner.
“Not only because of age and familiarity, but they don’t like each other. They’re bitter rivals. So with a bitter rivalry comes a sweet decision. I think that we’re going to get a sweet knockout this time around. It’s great for everybody around, and we finally do it,” said Mora.
“I couldn’t agree more that it wasn’t Golovkin’s fault that he couldn’t get the big names,” said Mannix. “If you look at all the big names that avoided him during his prime years.
“From Miguel Cotto, Sergio Martinez, and even Canelo made him wait a couple of years longer than most people wanted him to wait for that fight to happen. The reality is you are what your resume says you are.
“You’re only as good as the fighters you beat. I look at the Jacobs fight; that was a tremendous win. I look at the Lemieux that was a quality win. After that, there is a drop-off in terms of his competition.
“All I’m saying is to answer the question, who is this fight more important for? I think Canelo’s legacy is largely satisfied, largely set. He is the undisputed at super middleweight.
“He has fought big fight after big fight for almost a decade now. He is, to me, secure. Golovkin is a little more questionable at the top,” said Mannix.
“I’m going to flip the tables on you. Andre Ward made the Hall of Fame, and I think he’s a great fighter, one of the greatest in the last 20 years,” said Mora. “I believe he belongs in the Hall of Fame in first ballot.
“Who was the greatest opponent did he ever best? What Hall of Famers did Ward beat?” said Mora.
“He beat Sergey Kovalev twice and won the 168-pound Super Six [tournament],” said Mannix.
“That was his last fight. What Hall of Fame fighter did he beat before then?” said Mora.
“He beat everybody but Lucian Bute in his weight class at 168, and then he went to 175 and fought Kovalev, who at the time was at the peak of his powers, was ‘The Krusher’ at that point,” said Mannix.
“It was completely different. Those two were awful examples.”
“No, they’re not awful examples. Look, I believe Ward is a great fighter and belongs in the Hall of Fame,” said Mora. “I’m just making a case of Golovkin being a first-ballot Hall of Famer as well.
“It’s not his fault that he was put in an era where he didn’t have the Hall of Fame names. He didn’t have those great old lions that he could take over. It’s not his fault just like it wasn’t Andre Ward’s fault.
“He just beat everyone they put in front of him. If Kovalev is the name that you’re putting as the high standard, that was his last fight and Kovalev isn’t even in the Hall of Fame. So, it’s the same thing here with Golovkin,” said Mora.
“Okay, well, two things. One, Kovalev is not retired, so we don’t know what’s going to happen when his career is all said and done,” said Mannix. “Did you or did you not watch the Super Six tournament on Showtime?
“That was all the best guys at 168. Andre Ward went into that tournament and he was not the favorite. He wound up beating all the top guys [Mikkel Kessler], including Carl Froch at the very end and wound up establishing himself as the top guy at super middleweight.
“It is apples and oranges comparing the resumes of Andre Ward and Gennadiy Golovkin,” said Mannix.
“Gennadiy Golovkin at least faced a Hall of Famer,” said Mora. “Why are we turning this into a resume thing? I’m just compared the two. Canelo is a great fighter. Canelo is a Hall of Famer, and Canelo is a name that is recognized around the world.
“That’s what Golovkin lost to. Andre Ward stayed perfect all the way throughout [his career]. Yes, he wiped out a division, but what Hall of Famers are in that division? That’s just my argument right there.
“Golovkin is in the same beat. It doesn’t matter who he beat. It matters how he beat them, and he cleaned out a division as well at middleweight,” said Mora.
“Not really. He technically didn’t clean out a division at middleweight,” said Mannix.
“All I’m saying to bring it back full circle is that this fight to me is more important for Golovkin because he needs that top flight name on his resume. Someone that would surpass Jacobs as his best win, and Canelo Alvarez would surpass Jacobs at the top,” said Mannix.
