An eventful night of boxing saw Canelo and GGG come toe to toe again in their much anticipated rematch which resulted in Saul “Canelo” Alvarez winning by majority decision. Canelo claimed the WBA (Super), WBC, IBO, and vacant The Ring middleweight titles. (115 – 113, 114 – 114, 115 – 113)
Canelo vs GGG 2
The Fight
Last night’s fight was completely different to the first fight as Canelo looked to hold the center of the ring and assert himself on Golovkin throughout. In the opening 3 rounds I feel Alvarez just edged it over Golovkin as he came forward and tried to push Golovkin back, which was I guess was not his natural style to be on the back foot. In the second Canelo had some counter punching success as he marked up Golovkin’s eye with a thundering left hook as he continued to put pressure on into the third. With GGG now settling into the fight he started to make effective use of his jab and hit Canelo with big right uppercut which caused a cut just above his left eye. For the rest of the fight Golovkin continued to make sure to jab Canelo on that side, but this didn’t really seem unsettle Canelo that much. From rounds six to nine, I felt were incredibly close and your scoring interpretation could be taken either way from both fighters positives – GGG’s constant jab landing or Canelo’s effective aggression with counter punching. Round 10 was probably the best of the night, the two warriors came right up against each and both looked like they had hurt one other during the round, Golovkin however had just did enough for me. Going into the last round I had Golovkin up one round and feel he just did enough again with the constant jab. However, having watched it again, I feel Canelo’s further effective aggression on triple G probably ended the fight in his favor.
My Thoughts
Overall I feel Golovkin did enough as I scored the fight 116 – 112 last night in GGG’s favor (115 – 113 to GGG even after my second watch), he used his jab far more effectively throughout landing multiple jabs in each round, but I guess maybe he didn’t mix up enough from judges point of view – even his coach Abel Sanchez stressed this to GGG to mix up his punches in the corner. He did hit Canelo with some lovely uppercuts throughout, but failed to go for Canelo’s body. GGG was also on the back foot for most of the fight which was unusual for him and for us to see, but I feel even though he was on the back foot for most the fight, he still made his mark. From Canelo’s point of view his counter punching was top-notch again and just by looking at Golovkin’s face after the fight he definitely left his mark on him. The biggest difference from first fight was that Canelo held the center of the ring and used his effective aggression for the vast majority of the fight. Whereas before, he moved around the ring and would lie on the ropes too often. This was very absent in last’s night and his fight game plan and style maybe helped the judges eyes edge it over Golovkin.
What Next?
What next for both fighters now? With GGG only winning on one score card between two fights I can’t really see him getting a victory in a third match up between the two – I’d expect another Canelo victory by UD/MD. Is it now worth Golovkin waiting to see who wins the other middleweight showdowns that are happening soon? Going up in weight could potentially now be a good option if he wants to continue to fight for few more years. He’s definitely getting on now, but he still has enough in the tank to compete at highest level…at least for a year or two. For Canelo, the world is his oyster now, if he wants to fight GGG again and earn big bucks, (wouldn’t be surprised) he knows he can beat him now. He could also try go on to do what Golovkin has not… become undisputed Middleweight champion and capture the all the belts. Time is definitely on his side.
The Undercard
Lemeiux vs O’Sullivan
Surprising this fight only lasted one round, as Lemeiux simply just beat O’Sullivan to the punch with a cracking left hook on his chin. There was no chance of O’Sullivan getting up after that, which was a real shame as he actually had a good start in round. With match being an official title eliminator for the WBA middleweight belt, It looks like Lemeiux might just get another chance at top of the division again. This time it will be Canelo, but I’m not expecting 3rd time lucky, especially as he’s lost to both GGG and Saunders already.
Munguia vs Cook
Ended up being a very easy victory for the next Mexican boxing star as he got a convincing TKO 3rd round victory against the Candian Cook. At 21 years old he’s exciting fighter that is still very raw. For super welterweight he is an absolute beast and no doubt he will continue cause problems in the division and eventually move up in weight.
“Chocolatito” Gonzalez vs Fuentes
After his back-to-back defeats to Sor Rungvisai last year,”Chocolatito” returned in convincing fashion as he KO Fuentes in the fifth round with a solid right hand. A step back in the right direction for Gonzalez as he looks to rebuild himself in the super flyweight division.
Next week we will look at the build up to Joshua vs Povetkin along with undercard along with some other boxing review content.
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