Canelo Wins “Trilogy” Fight … Defeats GGG

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Canelo Álvarez and Gennady Golovkin fought their third fight, four years after their second fight. Their first two fights were close with a draw and split decision for Canelo, but you could easily have given the victory to either fighter (as I did in their first fight as I gave the fight to GGG).

The interesting aspects of this fight were that Alvarez was coming off a loss to Dmitry Bivol in a light heavyweight championship fight and Triple G was 40 years old and who knows how much he has left.

The first and second rounds were a feeling out process, but Canelo had the advantage in punches landed. I had the first two rounds 10-9 for Canelo. The third round saw Canelo mix in flurries and back up Golovkin, and while no major punches landed, it was obvious that Canelo was the aggressor.

The fourth round showed the age divide between the two as Alvarez attacked while landing body shots and a hard left to the head. In the fifth round, Alvarez rocked Golovkin with a solid right and added a body shot and an additional left.

The sixth round was yet another round for Canelo and unlike the first two fights, rounds three through sixth were easy to score and I had the fight 60-54 and this was a consensus. As the fight entered the second half, Golovkin looked like he was moving in cement as he looked like the 40 year old fighter that he is.

Canelo scored with a solid left to the head and added a left to the body and an uppercut. He pursued Golovkin and up to this point, much of Golovkin’s attack was ineffectual and this continued into the eighth round. At this point it would have been hard to give any rounds to Triple G and I had the fight 80-72.

Rounds nine and ten saw Golovkin show a little life as he forced Canelo, during the ninth round, to retreat as he landed a couple of power shots and even landed two rights and a left hand. In the tenth round, Golovkin landed straight lefts and uppercuts while Canelo landed a combination of his own and an uppercut. Over rounds nine and ten, Golovkin landed thirty punches to Canelo Alvarez’ twenty-one. While the rounds were close, I gave both rounds to Golovkin and had the score 98 to 92 and that was the best score for Golovkin as many at ringside had it 99-91 or 100-90.

As the eleventh round opened, a cut opened over Canelo’s eyes due to an accidental head butt but it did not stop Canelo from hitting the body while Golovkin jabbed. During the final round, Canelo threw left hooks and Golovkin missed with an uppercut. Canelo unleashed an uppercut while Golovkin landed the classic one-two down the middle, but Canelo landed a left hook to the body. The fight ended and I had the score 118-110.

The official cards were 116-112, 115-113, 115-113, but the cards were generous to Golovkin since I could not find five rounds for Golovkin and most observers ringside agreed; but at least they got the right winner and no one will complain that in this fight Canelo Alvarez indeed won.

Alvarez landed slightly more punches, but he landed more than double the power punches, and he landed more punches in nine of the twelve rounds. Golovkin looked like a 40-year-old fighter, and this was a fight that should have been done four years ago. Four years ago, it was Alvarez who was moving up to the Middleweight division, but in this fight it was Golovkin who was moving up to the Super Middleweight division, a division that Alvarez dominated for the past years as he has all the belts in the division. In this fight, it was Alvarez who was the natural bigger fighter this time around.

Golovkin is 40 years old and not the fighter he was in the past, so what is his future? Alvarez is the king of the Super Middleweight and his foray into the light heavyweight ended in defeat in his last fight. Will Alvarez try one more time for another light heavyweight championship or stay in the Super Middleweight? He is one of the few fighters who can attract substantial PPV dollars regardless of the opponent.   He has options. 

One thought on “Canelo Wins “Trilogy” Fight … Defeats GGG

  1. Entirely predictable outcome vs 40 yr old GGG. I have him 2 and 0 in their primes. Canelo was the lucky recipient of wins over Lara at JMW (a draw imo). A win and a draw v GGG at MW, both losses imo. Truly being the man at SMW, 3rd best at LH behind Beterbiev and Bivol. Another solid win for Canelo, but an over rated one here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *