Boxing
Darren Barker eager for a Canelo Alvarez homecoming fight following Gennadiy Golovkin win
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The dust has finally settled on Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s win over Gennadiy Golovkin in their trilogy fight and for many fans it was a contest that they didn't expect to play out the way it did.
Canelo was clearly the favourite going into this fight and rightly so with Golovkin’s age, and his underwhelming win against Murata last April, but while the Mexican boxed well in Las Vegas, it was clear that GGG was a shell of his former self.
The Kazakh was hesitant when it came to letting his hands go and struggled to hold the centre of the ring unlike the previous two fights with Canelo, and these were both clear signs that Golovkin was past his peak. It was sad to see at times, but huge credit still has to be given to Golovkin who tried to rally back late during the contest’s latter stages.
When the fight got underway on Saturday, I was hoping and expecting it to catch fire early doors, but this was not the case and I felt bad for Golovkin for two reasons.
The first being that he never got the win he deserved in either of the two previous fights and the second being that he was past his best and he was up against someone in Canelo who is going from strength to strength. One phrase that was used often in the build-up was ‘Father time waits for no man’ and it certainly rang true for Golovkin who showed every minute of his 40 years.
I also have to give a lot of respect to Canelo, he got the job done. Just like the second fight, the Mexican went on the front foot, applied pressure and took away Golovkin’s jab while establishing his own.
It was weird that it took nine rounds or so for Golovkin to start letting his hands go. Maybe this was due to a lack of fuel in the tank, but even when his head trainer Johnathan Banks instructed the 40-year-old to ‘Go for it’ in round six, Golovkin continued to be hesitant. This definitely wouldn’t have happened to the Golovkin of old, he wouldn’t be six rounds down that’s for sure and he would be able to go through the gears in order to seize control of the fight.
When it comes to the scorecards for this fight, two 115-113s and one 116-112, the latter is the absolute best anyone could have given to Golovkin.
I scored it 118-110 to Canelo and I’m not sure if those three judges ringside on Saturday night were afraid about receiving criticism for a one-sided scorecard that favours Canelo, so instead gave some of the close rounds to Golovkin. Although I was a little worried when the cards got read out, I’m glad the right man won.
It’s a shame that this trilogy fight between Canelo and Golovkin happened so late. Taking place four years after the second fight, Golovkin would have liked to have had all these fights closer together, but Saturday night brought down the curtain on a fascinating trilogy and it was great to see the respect between the two men after 36 hard fought rounds despite the recent bad blood between the pair.
When it comes to what’s next for Canelo, a homecoming clash with David Benavidez makes sense to me in Mexico, imagine how big that event would be.
A move back to light heavyweight doesn’t sit well with me, but Canelo is at the stage now where he can listen to fans and give them what they want, and with his legacy all but secured, I believe he will just want to keep his supporters happy, therefore a fight with Benavidez is the one to make.
