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One of the most heated rivalries in boxing history will finally reach its conclusion Saturday when Canelo Alvarez defends the undisputed super middleweight championship against Gennadiy Golovkin at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (DAZN PPV, 8 p.m. ET).
The third fight between Canelo and GGG comes four years after their rematch, which Alvarez narrowly won via majority decision. What started out as a respectful meeting between two of the sport’s top boxers — and biggest stars — became altogether personal following the controversy of the first battle, which ended in a disputed split draw.
A positive PED test for Alvarez in March 2018 that postponed the rematch cast more bad blood into the mix, and suddenly, the fighters began to loathe one another. After their second meeting, numerous attempts to finalize a hotly anticipated trilogy fight stalled until now, five years — and eight pounds — after they squared off for the first time.
Now, they find themselves in vastly different places. Golovkin was a longtime middleweight champion when he entered the ring in September 2017 and was even the betting favorite. Now, he is the underdog, five months beyond his 40th birthday. It may be the final fight of the Kazakh’s Hall of Fame career.
Alvarez, meanwhile, heads into the third meeting on the heels of an upset loss to Dmitry Bivol at light heavyweight, yet still in his prime. Standing at the height of his powers, Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) is one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world, and 168 pounds appears to be the 32-year-old Mexican’s most comfortable weight.
“It’s personal for me because he talks [about] a lot of things,” Alvarez said of this third fight against Golovkin. “I just can’t wait to be in the ring.”
Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) is being counted out by some, but he has proved through 24 rounds that he knows how to…
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Source : espn
