Gennadiy Golovkin is expecting a different Canelo Alvarez.
Perhaps no two fighters know each other better inside the ring than Alvarez (57-2) and Golovkin (42-1), who are set to face off in their trilogy fight on Sept. 17 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The two legends previously squared off in 2017 and ’18 in two of boxing’s biggest-ever bouts after anticipation grew through much of their careers, which saw them both become multiple-belt champions and reside atop the pound-for-pound rankings. The two fights – surrounded by scoring controversies – resulted in a draw and an Alvarez majority decision, respectively, prompting arguably the sport’s most divisive and bitter rivalries.
This time around, however, the 32-year-old Alvarez enters the bout coming off a loss to Dmitry Bivol, his first defeat since 2013 to Floyd Mayweather. It injected a dose of reality into the career of Alvarez, who had moved up to light heavyweight in an attempt to win a title in yet another division – a size he is likely not equipped for.
“I’ve known Canelo for a long time, and I’ve always known that it was possible, and Dmitri Bivol just showed us that,” the Kazakhstani Golovkin told The Post through an interpreter. “Some experts were under the illusion that Canelo was unbeatable, I never shared that opinion. That loss kind of brought the situation back to reality, back to the actual state of things.
“I think that he will draw conclusions as a result of his loss. He will take our fight much more seriously, much more realistically, and that will be a totally different fight, compared with his fight against Bivol.”
The resentment between the two fighters has only grown throughout their careers.
