GGG Will Conquer Canelo, Again

Boxing is made for film – there is corruption, violence, tragedy and the chance that the underdog can catch the champion with one punch with a blessing from the one above. Gennady Golovkin has been brought to the T-Mobile Arena tonight to serve as a stepping stone for the returning Alvarez. Golovkin shocked Canelo twice already, and tonight, he might very well do it one last time to end a chapter titled “poetic justice.”

Yes, the situation is far from ideal for the 40-year-old Golovkin. However, in the past few months, many factors emerged from Canelo’s side, resulting in this being a much closer fight than everyone thinks.

In 2021, Alvarez became the undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world, knocking out Caleb Plant last November to complete the final piece of the puzzle. However, you can’t really consider Alvarez the best at 168 since he’s refusing to fight the WBC interim champion, David Benavidez. So Yes, Alvarez is the man holding all the keys at 168, but he’s not the best.

In Alvarez’s last fight, he faded considerably after the fifth, then coasted through the entire contest. Yes, you could say that the Mexican ran out of gas. However, he used to find his second wind. Digging deep was one of Canelo’s qualities on his rise. So, a lack of hunger and motivation might very well be the reason.

Despite the critique, you have to give Canelo his credit. The man achieved it all at such an early age. I even have him as the best fighter Mexico has ever produced. However, Canelo has been a professional since he turned 15. So, he might be 32, but his body is just as if not older than Golovkin’s.

Also, there hasn’t seemed to be any recovery time taken for Alvarez. In the past 6 years, he appears to be fighting 4 times every 15 months. So, the wear and tear on Canelo’s body are drastic. On the other hand, Golovkin has been focusing more than ever on his recovery.

This will be the first time in almost a decade that Canelo enters a fight with a loss in his rear-view mirror. While on the Kazakh side, he has never lost in a professional setting, aside from the Canelo robbery.

Let’s be honest: Canelo’s team hand-selected Dmitry Bivol because he was the weakest link in the division. If Canelo wanted to be the best at 175, he would’ve fought the unified champion of the division, Artur Beterbiev. Just like the last fight, this one is also a cherry-pick. It went wrong the last time and could very well go wrong again tonight.

One of the greatest boxers in history, Roy Jones Jr. talked tirelessly about how he was never the same after he did what Canelo did; move up in weight and then attempt to scale back down to 168.

Jones Jr. suggested that Canelo might face the same consequences of body weight fluctuation.

Jose Benavidez Sr. dropped a bombshell this week about trouble in paradise for Canelo’s camp as Sr. claims that Canelo changed his entire team except for his head trainer, Eddy Reynoso. Shades of Teofimo Lopez prior to the George Kambosos Jr. fight.

Since the fight announcement, Alvarez keeps mentioning in every interview that he will be hunting for the knockout because this fight is personal to him. For the ice-cold Kazakh killer, it’s all business.

Earlier this week, at the grand arrivals, Golovkin made an effort to take center stage and tell the thousands of fans that for him, this trilogy is about fighting for a clean sport. For the uninformed, Golovkin was referring to Canelo’s doping scandal back in 2018. When your purpose is this powerful, magic could transpire.

According to Compubox, Gennady Golovkin has the best jab in boxing history based on career stats. That says something. And in Canelo’s last fight, Bivol stole the Mexican’s glow with a consistent stiff jab. Gennady’s best weapon is his jab, and he already beat Canelo in the second fight with his jab. Yes, he’s not the same Golovkin, but so is Canelo.

Golovkin will have 8 extra pounds for this fight for the first time in his entire career as he’s the one moving up in weight this time. Golovkin, at 40, has been looking drained on the scales in his past few fights, indicating that the weight cut is getting more challenging as his metabolism slows due to age because he is a natural athlete. So, a motivated Golovkin without a weight cut will unquestionably be as dangerous as he needs to be to stop the Mexican in his tracks.

In all actuality, Gennady Golovkin isn’t the same fighter he was 5 years ago. However, every now and then, we see a boxing great produce magic in a moment where hope seems to be washing with the wind. All I’m saying is this; sometimes, you just have to do the impossible.