Win Over Canelo Alvarez Is The Biggest Victory For The 40-year-old Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
FightersTalkTV.com – Forty is a crucial number of age for a sportsman, especially those who count on his physic in the sport, and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin is one of them. The WBA, IBF and IBO middleweight champion Golovkin is nearing the end of his career and many observers have tabbed him as a solid underdog against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in their trilogy. GGG will challenge Canelo for his undisputed super middleweight crown on September 17 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In 2017, they fought to a controversial twelve-round split draw, and a year later, Canelo secured a close twelve-round majority decision in the rematch. Golovkin believes he was robbed on the cards in both fights.
“A lot of time has passed. We are different fighters now,” Golovkin told the Las Vegas Review Journal. “It’s the right approach to move on. Not to look back at the previous two fights and train with this idea that is a separate fight.
“I’m sure it’s not going to be an easy fight. My opponent is a champion, he has four belts, and he’s arguably the best fighter at that weight class. I’m jumping to the weight class for the first time and I’m fighting the best fighter in that class. Most likely I’ll feel fresh in that weight category. I think I’ll be ready for the physical standpoint. I think I’ll feel more comfortable in that weight class. On the other hand, I should say I feel extremely comfortable in my class. At 160.”
Their first two encounters took place at the middleweight limit of 160 lbs, while in the upcoming bout, Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) will head up to 168 lbs. During his long run at 160 lbs, Golovkin has picked up numerous big wins in the ring. He admits, a win over Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) in their upcoming trilogy would be the biggest victory of his career.
“It would be the biggest win in my career. It would be the best thing that happened. That would be very fulfilling,” Golovkin said.
Canelo is Favored Will Beat GGG
Many observers believe that Canelo will get a victory over Golovkin in their upcoming trilogy. Although has lost to Dmitry Bivol last May by unanimous decision, the 32-year-old Canelo has more motivation to improve his skill by working harder in training camp.
In his fight at WBA light heavyweight against Bivol, Canelo plodded forward behind a high guard and loaded up on single-power shots in that fight. He gassed out after three rounds and was fighting literally on fumes in the last nine rounds. What Canello has going for him is the 40-years-old Golovkin and his habit of loading up on single power shots.
“I got Canelo. Canelo, in my opinion, has a lot to prove. He let his fans down last time out,” said Tim Bradley when asked who wins the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin trilogy.
“He’s going in with a chip on his shoulder,” Bradley continued about Canelo being bitter about his recent loss to Bivol. “You could see it in his energy with the way he was looking at GGG.”
It’s doubtful that Canelo will make any real changes to his game other than being less aggressive to conserve his energy better. He gassed not only against Bivol but also in his two fights with GGG and his match against Daniel Jacobs.
If Canelo tries to throw more punches, he’ll tire earlier and leave himself vulnerable to Golovkin’s power jab and single shots. That fight will be harder for Canelo than it would be.
“I think that’s going to compel him to work harder, get back to his craft, get back to boxing, and come in differently in the ring. Not just trying to walk guys down.
“He’s [Canelo] got accustomed to that, and he got in with the wrong guy [Dmitry Bivol] that knew how to isolate all of that, took advantage of that, and beat him,” said Bradley.
Bernard Hopkins, who is no longer involved in promoting Canelo Alvarez, clearly sure Canelo could stop Golovkin when those two rivals meet for a third time next month.
“I’m predicting Canelo will find his groove and then get a stoppage in the sixth or seventh round,” said Hopkins. “It looks like it will be a beat down. I think it’ll be a liver shot, and that’s going to happen in the first four rounds.”
It could very well be a “beat down” as Hopkins says, but Canelo will need to raise his game from what we saw in his loss to Dmitry Bivol last May for that to happen.
“Canelo is a better shot type of guy that wears you down, and then the head will be exposed to do what he wants to do, but that’s where it’ll start from. It’ll start from the bottom in bringing the head down. It will be a stoppage, but it’ll start from the body,” said Bernard.
Canelo is now 32, but he’s coming off of a pretty humbling defeat, where he was thoroughly out-boxed by major underdog Bivol at 175 lbs, while Golovkin is 40 and has fought just once since 2020, an April stoppage win over Ryota Murata in Japan.
The best news for all of us is that after a summer that has been a desert for actual big fights, we’re just over five weeks away from this one, and it is going to be a very big fight.
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