CANELO ALVAREZ VS GENNADY GOLOVKIN
BOXING is a mess. The best won’t fight the best. Speculation regarding which big fights might be scheduled is an unsatisfying substitute for the fights themselves. But on occasion, the best do fight the best. When that happens, a great fighter can emerge. Such was the case when Canelo Alvarez fought Gennady Golovkin.
Canelo and Golovkin fought twice. Their first encounter, on September 16 2017, resulted in a controversial draw. Their second meeting, one day shy of a year later, validated Canelo’s standing as an elite fighter and justified his status as boxing’s biggest box-office star and pay-per-view draw.
Alvarez has been in the spotlight since he was an adolescent. The weight of great expectations in his Mexican homeland has been on his shoulders for more than a decade. He turned pro at age fifteen and, prior to meeting Golovkin for the first time, had fashioned a 49-1-1 (34) ring record. He was willing to go in tough and had defeated some of boxing’s biggest names including Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, and Amir Khan. There were also victories over Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout. But with each win, there was a caveat attached. This opponent was too old. That one was too small. And there was a 2013 loss to Floyd Mayweather when a too-young Canelo was outslicked over twelve long rounds.
Gennady Golovkin was born in Kazakhstan. After compiling a reported 345-and-5 amateur record and winning a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, he turned pro and won his first 37 professional bouts, scoring 33 knockouts in the process
