Tag Archives: alvarez. gennady

Posted on 09/15/2017

By: Ben Sutherland

Tomorrow night’s highly anticipated bout between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is going the distance and here’s why.

First let’s look at Canelo. His aggressive Mexican style makes many fans believe he has what it takes to knock out Golovkin. However, a closer analysis of his last few fights does not necessarily support this assumption. His most recent win against Chavez Jr went the distance. Of course, Chavez was coming down from light heavyweight and didn’t come to fight. However, Canelo had 12 rounds of one sided fighting to try and get rid of him and didn’t come close. Before that, he fought Great Britain’s Liam Smith and whilst that fight was a knockout, he was a class above Smith going into the fight and was the much bigger man, coming down in weight. Canelo devastatingly knocked out Amir Khan but Khan has a notoriously weak chin and was coming up from welterweight to fight him. Prior to the Khan fight, Canelo comfortably beat Cotto but also failed to stop him. Does Canelo have power? Of course he does, he is a world class boxer. But I can’t help but feel that thanks to the additional muscle that Canelo has packed on, his power has been greatly overstated in the wider media in the build up to this fight.

Similar evidence is readily available to refute claims about Golovkin’s current power at the highest level. Yes he has in previous years been avoided due to his knockout potential and 33 KO’s in his 37 professional fights somewhat confirm these fears. The most obvious piece of evidence is his recent fight against Danny Jacobs. Whilst he put Jacobs down in the fight, it was a flash knockdown rather than a legitimately destructive knockdown. Jacobs clearly wasn’t that hurt by it as he fought back to take Golovkin 12 rounds, asking questions that had previously not been put to Golovkin in his professional career. Prior to Jacobs, Golovkin actually looked somewhat suspect for a brief second against Kell Brook. Whilst the fight ended in stoppage as Brooks corner threw in the towel, it says more about underlying structural weaknesses in Brook than it does about Golovkin’s power, especially when you consider that Brooks other eye socket was damaged in his more recent bout with Errol Spence Jr. Golovkin has left a trail of destruction in his wake in all of his fights prior to Brook, hence his reputation. However, all of those boxers were not elite world champion fighters like Canelo and Golovkin was simply a cut above them all. Once again does Golovkin have devastating power? Certainly at a lower level but he hasn’t consistently got rid boxers from the highest echelons of the sport. The power he does have is also waning. Father time is catching up to him and slowly stripping him of the power that Martin Murray described as making him “feel like he was giving birth”.

There is also the not so small issue that neither of these fighters have ever been knocked down, let alone knocked out. Golovkin especially, has a notoriously strong chin. As much as Canelo has been branded as the epitome of a Mexican fighter, he has great defense and is incredibly evasive. He has also taken a few shots in his time and has barely been wobbled. Whilst often in boxing, a strong chin really means that a fighter doesn’t get hit very much, both fighters have taken punches and handled it with aplomb.

Granted, this fight represents new challenges for both boxers but there is no real reason to suggest that either fighter will all of a sudden become vulnerable in this fight. Much has been made of Canelo’s new bulk that he has added in this training camp but ultimately he still has to make 160lb the day before the fight and 170lb the day of the fight if he wants to fight for the IBF title. Consequently, any advantage he gains will be at least somewhat mitigated. Not to mention the potential reduction in speed that this bulk also carries.

This lack of knockout becomes more likely when you consider the gravity of this fight for both men. It is career defining stuff. Consequently, it’s a fight in which both fighters will look to minimize risk. Whilst Oscar De La Hoya is trying to pitch the fight as a fire slinging brawl, I hardly suspect that it will be so. It is important to bear in mind that De La Hoya is a promoter trying to sell a fight in a post Mayweather v McGregor vacuum in which most fans pay per view budgets have been seriously depleted. A more likely scenario is that both fighters will dance around each other for a couple of rounds and ease their way into the fight. By the time either fighter gets into their work, they will be deep into the fight and therefore fatigued and will have consequently lost their edge in the power department.
Canelo is the younger, more technically proficient boxer and in a world where there is no knockout, I think Canelo’s youth and skills will allow him to craft out a victory on points. However, when I sit down at the bar on Saturday night to watch the spectacle, I will be anticipating 45 minutes of enthralling boxing action. For my money, it is going the distance.

Posted on 07/20/2017

By: Francisco Martinez

September 16th Gennady Golovkin is set to meet Saul Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile arena. A fight 2 years in the making. A fight announced right after Canelo’s shutout of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. a masterful performance not enjoyed to long by Canelo as his next opponent was brought to the ring there and then. To the surprise of many the fight we’ve all been asking for finally materialized. Canelo vs Golovkin is suppose to be the fight that proves what Canelo truly is capable of and the fight that proves is Golovkin the bogey man they make him out to be.

With a combined record of 86 victories and 67 knockouts Canelo & Golovkin is almost a certain knockout ending. How do both fighters feel in regards to those expectations “It’s going to be a tough fight, a fight with a lot of action but I’ll make it clear as to who is the better man” expresses Canelo a conservative prediction as does Golovkin “I’m a professional athlete and for me it’s very interesting to see who’s better. Not special but who’s the better athlete, who’s the better boxer” states Golovkin.

If we look back into this fight and dig a little more we’ll find that Canelo & Golovkin have shared the ring before as both careers took off. In a sparring session that took place about 6 years ago or so at the Summit Boxing gym in Big Bear, California owned by Golovkin’s trainer, 2015 BWAA Trainer Of The Year, Abel Sanchez. The man responsible for Golovkin’s Mexican Style inside the ring. As for the sparring session a lot has circulated around the media and gym talk as to what actually happened but both fighters had this to say about their now legendary sparring session

“That happened about 6 years ago more or less. He has advanced, I have advanced. It can help a little bit but I won’t focus on it as we’ve both have totally advanced and sparring can’t influence a fight it’s way too different. It’ll be a good fight a fight the people have been wanting. It’ll be a good fight. We’ll be ready” says Canelo of the 6 year old sparring session. Gennady Golovkin had this to say about the past sparring session

“It was 6 years ago it’s a different time right now. It was sparring and it’s different. Sparring and fighting. It’s sparring not fighting” says Gennady Golovkin with a similar tone as Canelo to the past sparring between both. Canelo was just making his transition into 154lbs class and Golovkin was already a full fledged 160lbs fighter so the sparring can be taken with a grain of salt aside from what rumors might say took place within the sparring at the time.

About 21 days before Canelo & Gennady Golovkin are set to face each other another big fight will take place. The return of Floyd Mayweather in the same place and venue. A fight some critics think might affect Canelo & Golovkin’s revenue and possibly a strategic move by Mayweather. Arguably the best boxer ever, surely the best of our time and also known as one of the best business minds in boxing as well.

Golden Boy promotion’s Oscar De La Hoya is not concerned with Mayweather & McGregor taking place a couple of weeks prior to Canelo & Golovkin neither is K2 promotion’s Tom Loeffler “I figured they would make the fight I wasn’t sure when they would do it. It surprised us they would go before on August. You know August people are in still in vacation and you know that’s two big names that they have so they probably figured they can go when they wanted to and were gonna focus on our end to promote ours the best that we can and I’m sure that Floyd and Conor are gonna promote their event and I think that’s one of those fights that the build up would be more exciting than the fight itself but we’re gonna do the best we can on our end”

Floyd Mayweather gave his prediction to Canelo vs Golovkin late last year and he predicted Canelo would knockout Golovkin also went as far as to say he would beat Golovkin. Gennady had this to say about Mayweather’s recent comments “He talks too much. I think he’s not a promoter, he’s not Canelo’s promoter. I don’t know why? Ask him why?” Replied Golovkin to Mayweather’s comments.

Two mega fights that will take place withing a month of each other can only benefit boxing although some would disagree others would say it’s what boxing needs at this point in time in a year that has been one to remember boxing wise. This September 16th Supremacy in the middleweight division is what we’ll get once Canelo & Gennady Golovkin step into the ring in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena live on HBO PPV.

So don’t miss it and follow the conversation and converage leading up to fight night via #CaneloGGG