Canelo Alvarez makes his decision, will face Gennadiy Golovkin in September before moving on to a rematch with Dmitry Bivol

By: Hans Themistode

Canelo Alvarez’s plan is clear.

After stealing every world title at 168 pounds, the Mexico star will then put on a daring weight gain to take on 175-pound WBA player Dmitry Bivol. Once Alvarez overcomes that hurdle, he will move on to a third, and perhaps final, match against Gennadiy Golovkin.

Although Alvarez sees Bivol as an important challenge, the former world number four player believes he will ultimately triumph over their competition. However, when the two went head to head on May 7, Alvarez and his undying fans were rudely awakened. On that night, Bivol both defeated the heavyweight star by pound, en route to defending his light heavyweight crown.

With Alvarez’s defeat, a haze surrounded his once-clear future. Initially, Alvarez said that he would decide to face Bivol in an immediate rematch. However, after more thought, Alvarez decided against it and would instead seek to end his rivalry with Golovkin.

“Definitely yes [about fighting Golovkin next],” Alvarez said in a recent interview with ESPN Deportes. “We’ve got that contract, that deal, so we have to continue what we started.”

By no means does Alvarez, 31, avoid a second game against Bivol. However, as the Mexican star dodged, a match against Golovkin was well-recognised before he pitted against the current WBA lightweight champion.

Ultimately, news of Alvarez choosing to face Golovkin for the third time could be music to the ears of the longtime middleweight champion. After their first match in September 2017, Golovkin was left in a situation where he believed he had done more than enough to get the win. However, he was forced to negotiate to draw the decision by majority. Anxious to prove their superiority to each other, the two horns locked once more. While their sequel was a reciprocity, it was Alvarez who delivered the decisive victory for the most part, much to Golovkin’s astonishment.

Despite being fierce throughout the entire ordeal, Golovkin returned to the winning column again and again. With four wins in a row, three of which came from injury time, Golovkin is confident.

Most recently, the current unified middleweight champion was last seen in the ring on April 9, earlier this year. The 40-year-old recently stomped bravely into the home field of Japan’s Ryota Murata, before brutally ending his middleweight title domination through the ninth round in stoppage time.

Since Alvarez is currently preparing to face Golovkin in the 168-pound division, he doesn’t rule out a return to the light heavyweight division. In fact, the Mexican star basically ensured that after the match with Golovkin, a second match with Bivol would follow.

“I think those were the two biggest fights in boxing, the Golovkin fight and the Bivol rematch. Unfortunately, we lost, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try again. The important thing here is persistence and we will do it again.”