Four years ago, Saúl Álvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin appeared set for an epic boxing trilogy.
Their first fight, a middleweight title unification bout in September 2017, ended in a draw, with each man retaining his belts. The rematch came almost exactly one year later, with Álvarez winning by a razor-thin majority decision. One judge scored the bout a draw, while the other two favored Álvarez by a single round.
Boxing fans expected to see a decisive third bout quickly. With HBO, which had aired the first two bouts, exiting the boxing business, the sports streaming service DAZN made deals with both fighters’ promoters. The plan was for a third Álvarez-Golovkin fight to drive customers to DAZN as it ramped up its operations in the United States in 2019.
So why is the heavily anticipated third chapter of a matchup often simply referred to by the fighter’s nicknames — Canelo vs. GGG — only set to take place this Saturday?
Blame the delay on the usual reasons in boxing — a mixture of business, promotional politics and personal pride.
Whether the lengthy wait has pushed this bout past its “best by” date, in terms of either action or the sales it can generate, is still unclear. But Álvarez, 32, whose super middleweight titles will be at stake at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, maintains that this rematch with Golovkin is coming at the ideal time.
For him.
“The people want to see it, and we have a chance to show them who’s the best,” Álvarez said in an interview over a videoconference. “It’s the best time to do this fight. It’s time to end this rivalry, right now.”
Álvarez (57-2-2, 39 knockouts) views the four-year gap between his fights with Golovkin through the prism of competition. Álvarez said moving up from middleweight and winning the undisputed super middleweight championship became his main priority in 2020 and 2021. He achieved that goal with a series of wins, starting in late 2020 and culminating with an 11th-round technical knockout over Caleb Plant last November.
In November 2019, Álvarez even fought at light heavyweight, knocking out Sergey Kovalev to win the World Boxing Organization title. He returned to that 175-pound weight class in May to challenge Dmitry Bivol for his World Boxing Association belt. After Bivol defeated him by unanimous decision, Álvarez dropped back down to the 168-pound super middleweight class, where Golovkin, who usually fights as a 160-pound middleweight, was waiting.
A win over Golovkin on Saturday would help Álvarez repair whatever damage his reputation and marketability suffered after his loss in May. Golovkin’s trainer, Johnathon Banks, calls the bout’s timing convenient for Álvarez.
