Seriously, are these people new to boxing? Have they not been paying attention to, well, EVERYTHING they?ve seen in the sport?
Following last Saturday?s Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin pay-per-view clash, the online Universo Pugilistico has predictably been overrun with ?Triple G was never gonna get a decision in Vegas? laments.
?The money fighter is always gonna get the decision if it?s even remotely close,? they all agree. ?The decked is stack in favor of the money fighters.?
Well, no shit.
Seriously, are these people new to boxing? Have they not been paying attention to, well, EVERYTHING they?ve seen in the sport?
Of course the money fighter, who is almost always the lead promoter?s fighter, is going to have the home field advantage. This is nothing new. The lead promoter has a hand in everything from the look of the fight posters to the assigning of officials, so it should go without saying that an entirely even playing field is not something to be expected, ever. The organizer of the event and all those working through him, of course, would lean towards the fighter with the biggest pull, even if that ?lean? was unintentional.
Again, no shit, right?
Every other sport has a home field advantage built into its gameplay structure as well. When the Chicago Cubs are at home, they have the advantage of not having to travel, not having to sleep in strange beds or dine at unknown eateries. They also enjoy a state-of-the-art clubhouse with all the amenities, while the visiting team works from something closely resembling a gigantic broom closet. And, while MLB would vehemently deny it, maybe the home team with the screaming hometown fans does get the benefit of the doubt on some close calls.
Boxing, just from a competitive, sporting aspect, is not supposed to feature a home field advantage?But, from the way the business is set up, of course it does and, yep, it always has.
That?s why Gennady Golovkin should not be the object of any shed tears. He knows the game?or, at least, should?ve been informed of the game?and he should?ve responded accordingly. The fact of the matter is that, on two occasions already, he was unable to create any separation between himself and Canelo Alvarez. He was unable to make a clear and decisive case for him being the better fighter.
The two fights were so close that even if Alvarez, the money fighter, got the benefit of the doubt on just two close rounds in the twenty-four rounds already fought, it could?ve been enough to tilt things in his favor. That?s how close these two fights were. And, putting aside the ?money fighter? talk, it?s also a reality that when a powerhouse ?beast? is underperforming, judges may be tempted to factor the diminished output into their scoring. In other words, if Golovkin should be dominating, and he?s not, the temptation is to give the other guy more credit than maybe he deserves.
All of this could?ve played a factor in the scoring of the two Canelo-GGG fights (which this writer saw as a pair of draws).
At any rate, none of this should?ve been a surprise to Golovkin, who, despite being the defending middleweight champ, was coming into these two bouts as the visitor.
The Kazakh KO machine, after all, has enjoyed the advantages of home field advantage, himself.
Last year?s unanimous decision over Daniel Jacobs, which Golovkin won fairly comfortably on two scorecards, could easily have been a draw or even a loss. And, in terms of the matchmaking that helped build his star in the first place, few have enjoyed his level of unfettered freedom when it comes to feasting on tailor-made opposition for the vast majority of his career.
For the Canelo-GGG rematch, efforts were made to at least give the impression of an even playing field (which is about as close to actually providing an even playing field you?re going to get in boxing). Two ?east coast? judges were brought in, along with an ?east coast? referee. In boxing theory, east coast officials tend to favor offense-minded, come-forward fighters like Golovkin over boxers.
But Golovkin, for both his fights against Alvarez, fought like a home field fighter. He fought like the ?star? who feels entitled to a win as long as he keeps the fight close.
Maybe he just wasn?t good enough to dominate Alvarez like many thought he would?and there certainly would be no shame in that. Or, maybe, he was so accustomed to his own home field advantages as part of the natural order of things that he was utterly broadsided by running into someone with more pull and greater star privilege than him.
