GENNADY GOLOVKIN could be forgiven for not wanting any part of Canelo Alvarez or Las Vegas again. But tonight he confirmed he wants a third fight with Canelo Alvarez after the Mexican took his WBC and WBA middleweight titles via majority decision in their Las Vegas rematch.
Last September, his first bout with Canelo Alvarez in the T-Mobile Arena was ruled a draw following a wildly inaccurate 118-110 scorecard in the Mexican’s favour. The rematch was about setting the record straight.
But after 12 seesaw rounds, it was Canelo’s hands that were hoisted into the air in victory. Two scores of 115-113 in his favour trumped a 114-114 card and handed the Mexican victory. Golovkin left the ring, deciding against talking to HBO’s Max Kellerman. Once the dust has settled, though, “GGG” showed his class.
“We can say a lot of things tonight,” said Golovkin, wearing sunglasses to hide the cuts and bruises he suffered. “First I want to congratulate Canelo tonight because he left this building as a champion. It was a fight of two champions tonight.”
The contest was close, no question. Golovkin seemed to take over in the middle rounds but Canelo – holding centre ring for long periods – was astonishingly tough and always firing back. The rounds were hard to score. And in the end, it was two judges scoring the last session in Alvarez’s favour that edged it his way.
“He was not running for this fight but that doesn’t mean the scores are right,” countered Golovkin. “He did not win this fight. We won this fight. He did not doing anything special.
“I felt very comfortable. I think we controlled the fight with all the jabs. Just because he wasn’t running didn’t mean we were not controlling the fight, we were.
“I feel fine, I feel great. I have a small cut from when we butted heads but I wasn’t hurt at any point.”
Golovkin wants his titles back.
“I will come back guys,” he said with a smile. “As a boxer, as a fighter I will continue to do my job. I will continue to prove that I’m the best. We would like to have a third fight, we will negotiate that, that’s what we want.”
