Canelo Alvarez

Canelo vs. GGG 2: Fight-Night Preview

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) meet again Saturday night, September 15 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

This fight is long overdue but we are now just days away from one of the biggest boxing events in the history of the sport.

GGG vs. Canelo 2 was pushed back due to two positive drug test for the performance-enhancing drug, Clenbuterol, supposedly triggered by contaminated meat from Mexico. Canelo Alvarez was suspended six months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and not cleared to fight on the original rematch date, May 5 of this year. Golovkin made the decision to still fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend against Vanes Martirosyan (36-3-1, 21 KOs), wining via knockout.

Golovkin and Canelo battled to a controversial draw last September in what was easily one of the best fights of 2017. Judge Adelaide Byrd scored the bout in favor of Canelo 118-110 when Judge Dave Moretti had it scored 115-113 for Golovkin and Judge Don Trella scored the bout a draw 114-114. After the first fight, both men expressed that they felt they did enough to earn the W. Leading up to this rematch and after the failed drug tests, the tension has continued to grow between these two fighters. Both men are out for revenge in this rematch– both feel disrespected by the other and this has become very personal.

The 36-year-old Golovkin possesses an almost unbelievable punching power combined with an iron chin. Though Golovkin possesses great power (I mean he knocks people out with his jab kind of power), he is also very technical– he has the outstanding ability to cut off the ring and stalk his opponents down in vicious fashion.

Just four fighters have been able to weather the GGG storm and finish a bout with Golovkin and only two have done so in nearly ten years– Daniel Jacobs and Canelo Alvarez in their first meeting. It will be interesting to see how much the emotions and bad blood leading up to this fight play into Golovkin’s performance Saturday night. I for one am excited to see what type of game plan Golovkin will enter the ring with.

On the other hand, we have the much younger 28-year-old, Canelo who is probably one of the greatest counter-punchers of all times. Canelo is also a great defensive fighter which made it more difficult than usual for Golovkin to land in their first go around.

Along with Canelo’s superb counter punching and crafty defense, he also has plenty of power in his own right. With the suspension, Canelo has not fought in a year, since the split decision draw against GGG.  Though this may seem like a long layoff, Canelo typically only fights twice a year so I don’t believe that will make much of a difference in his performance Saturday night.

This fight is a hard one to predict because of their differences in style and the fact that they are both as good as it gets at this level of the sport. Canelo will need to outwit Golovkin if he wants to come out victorious. Canelo will need to be careful not to get caught up in too many flurrying exchanges with Golovkin because it just takes one of GGG’s punches to end the night early.

Golovkin appears to be determined to destroy Canelo but cannot let his emotions get the best of him. Golovkin will need to be strategic with his power as he looks to earn the victory he feels strongly that he was robbed of the first time around.

This is yet another huge test for both men. Golovkin is looking to prove that he is one of the best middleweights of all times, regardless of the fact that his resume has been short on high-level opponents up until a few years ago (and probably to no fault of his own).

For Canelo, this is his opportunity to prove all of the naysayers wrong and place himself at the top of the P4P rankings in his athletic prime. September 15, we will get the answer to the long awaited question, who is the superior boxer, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The much anticipated rematch goes down in just two days– GGG vs. Canelo 2 will not disappoint (don’t worry Adelaide Byrd won’t be there).

 

Header photo by Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

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