By: Sean Crose
They last met four years ago. Canelo Alvarez won that night, beating the dreaded Gennady Golovkin thanks to the referee’s controversial decision. The career of boxers has gone in different directions since that time. Canelo is, for the most part, still the biggest name in boxing. On the other hand, Golovkin is almost retired. Most would assume that their impending third battle, scheduled for Saturday night at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, would be a foregone conclusion… .or, mean is, they would have had if Canelo hadn’t lost his last fight, an unsuccessful attempt to snatch the WBA lightweight belt from Dmitry Bivol’s waist.
Now people are not so sure… or at least they are not as sure as they used to be. Aside from his two previous fights with Canelo, the boxer known as GGG hasn’t worn out much in the ring. Again, the man has only had four skirmishes since his second game against Canelo (the first between the two took place in 2017 and ended in a controversial draw. GGG should have won). However, the Kazakh fighter is not a child at 40. Plus, he hasn’t always looked his best in the last 4 years.
Just ask Sergey Derevyenchenko, who some felt was enough to beat GGG when he lost to the famous boxer in 2019. There is no doubt, however, that Canelo is about to have a tough defeat. Before meeting Bivol, this guy hadn’t lost since facing the great Floyd Mayweather in 2013. Things like that can have a psychological impact. What’s even more remarkable, however, may be the fact that it seems that GGG is indeed capable of infiltrating Canelo’s head. There is a real dislike between these two, and Canelo needs to be cool when it comes to ice on Saturday.
Of course, there are rumors that Canelo-GGG 3 is overdue by the day. Maybe it’s past its premium day but without a doubt it’s an extremely fun match to watch. Will GGG help him get a win of this magnitude at 49… and a super middle class, nothing more? Can Canelo get back to his original form, the kind that made him look almost invincible over the past few years before his defeat to Bivol? These are questions worth discovering the answers to.
