With Sergey Kovalev?s eleventh-round stoppage of game (but green) Brit, Anthony Yarde this past Saturday in Russia, the doors are now opened for the rumored Kovalev-Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez bout in the fall.
Good. Let?s do it.
And what about Canelo-Golovkin 3? Screw it. Move on. Go away, actually.
What would be the point in revisiting this pairing?other than to soothe the aching ego of Golovkin and serve as fundraiser for the in-the-red DAZN operating budget?
It?s not like fans would get anything resembling a satisfying, decisive finish to this rivalry. Golovkin can?t separate himself from Alvarez, can?t do anything to truly establish dominance and Alvarez won?t do anything to give Golovkin half a chance at blasting his way to a puncher?s chance.
Both fighters, brimming with entitlement, will never produce anything together but frustration and fodder for fans? social media angst. Golovkin fights with a sense of entitlement based on the career path he has traveled, full of stylistic soft touches for seven-figure paydays and boardroom title belt gifts. Opponents are supposed to be ?good boys? who let themselves be walked down and beaten into submission. Alvarez, on the other hand, fights as though he?s entitled to a win as long as he makes it to the final bell and keeps the contest at least somewhat close.
Alvarez and Golovkin could fight a hundred times and they?d produce a disputable, anticlimactic end result every single time.
Who needs that and who needs all the nonsense bickering between camps and fans of both fighters after the guaranteed controversial outcome?
Golovkin needs to move on, ditch his obsession with the Canelo piggyback ride, and take on the younger challengers who he?s conveniently ignoring just as fervently as guys like Felix Sturm, Sergio Martinez, and Miguel Cotto ignored him back in the day. Why not take some of the matchup risks now that he didn?t take in the past and truly establish a legacy worthy of the 2012-2016 HBO-driven hype that had him listed as an all-time great at 160? Demetrius Andrade would be a worthwhile puzzle to try and solve. Jermall Charlo would provide some real fireworks. Former champ Billy Joe Saunders would also be a worthwhile riddle to accept. Even a rematch with Daniel Jacobs, who easily could?ve gotten a draw back when the two fought in 2017, would provide plenty of intrigue. The upcoming clash with Sergiy Derevyanchenko for the vacant IBF middleweight belt should be alright, but it would be nice to see Golovkin decisively solve some less tailor-made stylistic matchups so people can fairly judge his place in history.
WBA/WBC middleweight champ Canelo, by all accounts, has already moved on from the idea of fighting Golovkin again. The Mexican star is holding a grudge from two-plus years of Golovkin calling him everything from a coward to a drug cheat. Business mix-ups cost him the IBF belt tossed up to Golovkin and Derevyanchenko and there?s some inside-DAZN tug-of-war about who he should fight next, with the streaming service wanting Golovkin and Alvarez seemingly willing to negotiate with everyone but Golovkin. At this point, Alvarez would probably be wise to distance himself from the Kazakh former (and soon-to-be future) titlist. Like with Golovkin, bouts with Andrade, Charlo, and Saunders would be excellent competitive challenges. But if Alvarez doesn?t want a riddle to solve?and it looks like he doesn?t?at least take a stab at slaying a beast.
And that?s where WBO light heavyweight champ Sergey Kovalev comes in.
The 29-year-old Alvarez would be moving up two full weight classes to challenge for the 175 lb. title and taking on a fighter not too far removed from having earned the reputation of being a fearsome, nearly unbeatable monster.
At 36 years of age and after having been twice humanized by Andre Ward (and once by Eleider Alvarez), the air of invincibility is no longer there for the big Russian, but all the tools that got him to the top are still there. Kovalev has legitimately heavy hands, a smooth and relaxed style, and a brutal jab. Plus, he will look like a beast standing next to the four-inches-shorter Alvarez.
On the plus side for Alvarez, he?ll have the edge in speed and mobility. In the body-weak Kovalev, he?ll also be given an exploitable target on which to fire his trademark body shots.
This fight makes sense for Alvarez and for the Alvarez business. It?s a risky fight?and don?t let the serial Canelo critics and cynics tell you otherwise?but it?s a winnable calculated-risk fight. It?ll put Alvarez on the short, short list of four-division Mexican world champs, affirming his own place in history. And to the all-important casual fan, it?ll make the perpetual betting favorite Canelo look like David slaying Goliath.
But whether Alvarez ends up fighting Kovalev or not (because there have been some issues to pop up over the date and there surely will be some issues regarding money), Alvarez-Golovkin should not be anyone?s priority.
Alvarez and Golovkin, like two halves of a bad marriage, are better off splitting apart and living separate lives.
