Saul Alvarez vs Gennadiy Golovkin 2

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez took the WBA, WBC and IBO middleweight championships from Gennadiy Golovkin by a 12-round majority decision at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Alvarez entered with 49 victories, one defeat and two draws, while Golovkin was unbeaten in 39 professional contests. Alvarez weighed 159 pounds and Golovkin 160. A sold-out crowd of 21,965 attended. Benjy Esteves Jr was the referee. There were no knockdowns, and neither man incurred a penalty.

The contest followed the disputed draw between the pair a year earlier, when Golovkin had pressed forward for much of the night while Alvarez boxed in retreat. Their second meeting had originally been arranged for May but was postponed after Alvarez tested positive for clenbuterol and received a six-month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The delay and the accusations exchanged by the two camps produced an ill-tempered promotion. Golovkin, then 36, was making the fifth defence of the WBC championship and the 20th defence recognised by the WBA. Alvarez was returning after a year’s absence and promised to fight differently from the first encounter.

He did so from the opening bell. Instead of surrendering ground, Alvarez advanced towards the centre of the ring and obliged Golovkin to box while moving backwards. Golovkin used his left jab immediately, measuring the shorter man and trying to disturb his balance before the attacks began. The first round was close, with Golovkin landing the jab and Alvarez answering with counters and a left hook to the body. All three official judges awarded it to Golovkin. Alvarez increased his pace in the second, doubling the jab, hooking downstairs and stepping close enough to prevent Golovkin from setting himself for the right hand. A cut appeared near Golovkin’s right eye during the round, although it did not seriously affect his work.

The third was again closely contested. Golovkin continued to score with his jab, but Alvarez slipped punches at short range and countered with the right hand, left hook and uppercut. All three judges gave Alvarez the second and third rounds. Golovkin recovered ground in the fourth, landing straighter punches while circling away from Alvarez’s advances. The two men began to exchange more freely, though neither was shaken. Alvarez’s defence remained compact, and he continued to direct much of his heavier work towards the body. Golovkin, by contrast, concentrated almost entirely upon the head.

Alvarez produced his best sustained work during the fifth and sixth. He backed Golovkin up with the jab, drove left hooks beneath the elbow and countered when the champion attempted to reassert himself. Golovkin’s jab continued to land, but it was no longer pushing Alvarez backwards as it had during parts of their first fight. Alvarez remained in the centre, moving his head after punching and making Golovkin work harder to find the right hand. The sixth contained further body work from the Mexican, who shifted between head and ribs while Golovkin relied upon the jab and occasional straight rights. Alvarez’s willingness to advance was the principal tactical change in the contest, and it allowed him to appear the stronger man through much of the first half.

Golovkin improved in the seventh and eighth as the pace became more exacting. His jab remained the most dependable punch in the fight, and he began following it with short hooks and uppercuts when Alvarez stayed within range. Alvarez continued to attack the body and was often the better man in close exchanges, but Golovkin was landing more frequently from distance. The judges disagreed over both rounds. Dave Moretti gave the seventh to Golovkin and the eighth to Alvarez; Steve Weisfeld scored them the opposite way; Glenn Feldman awarded both to Alvarez. The differing assessments illustrated the central question of the contest: whether greater weight should be given to Golovkin’s more numerous jabs or Alvarez’s harder body punches and forward movement.

The ninth was another narrow round. Alvarez continued to attack underneath Golovkin’s elbows, while Golovkin scored with straight punches and finished with a firm right hand. Moretti and Weisfeld favoured Alvarez; Feldman gave the round to Golovkin. By this point Alvarez’s pace had begun to moderate, and Golovkin found greater freedom in the tenth. The champion doubled and tripled the jab, landed uppercuts as Alvarez came forward and followed with right hands to the head. A heavy right in the later part of the round checked Alvarez’s advance, but he recovered promptly and returned to the body. All three judges gave the tenth to Golovkin.

Golovkin maintained his improvement in the eleventh. He drove Alvarez towards the ropes with straight punches and landed several of his strongest blows of the night. A cut over Alvarez’s left eye became more pronounced as Golovkin found the target with the right hand. Alvarez remained composed, defended much of the follow-up work and replied with hooks to the body whenever Golovkin paused. The round went unanimously to Golovkin, leaving the decision dependent on several closely divided earlier sessions and the final three minutes.

Both men fought the twelfth at close range. Golovkin began behind his jab and landed an uppercut, but Alvarez answered to the body and stood his ground during the exchanges. Neither attempted merely to preserve his position. Golovkin landed the greater number of straight punches; Alvarez’s work was shorter, heavier and divided between head and body. Moretti and Weisfeld awarded the final round to Alvarez, while Feldman gave it to Golovkin. At the bell, there was no clear outward sign of victory from either man, and the closeness of the contest made another divided verdict likely.

Feldman scored the bout a draw at 114-114. Moretti and Weisfeld each returned 115-113 for Alvarez, giving him the majority decision and inflicting the first defeat of Golovkin’s professional career. The official cards showed that all three judges agreed on only six rounds: the first, fourth, tenth and eleventh for Golovkin, and the second and third for Alvarez. The remaining six were divided. Moretti had scored the first meeting for Golovkin but gave the rematch to Alvarez by two points.

The recorded punch figures supplied further evidence of a close but contrasting contest. Golovkin landed 234 of 879 punches, while Alvarez connected with 202 of 622. Golovkin’s advantage came chiefly from the jab, but Alvarez led 143-116 in power punches and landed 46 blows to the body against Golovkin’s six. Those figures supported the impression that Golovkin had been the busier and more accurate long-range boxer, while Alvarez had delivered the more varied and forceful work at close quarters. Golovkin required eight stitches to close the wound near his right eye and left the ring without giving the customary television interview. Alvarez left with the championships after a verdict that could reasonably have gone either way, but his decision to advance, attack the body, and meet Golovkin in the centre provided the narrow distinction the judges required.

I had Golovkin winning the first fight, but I thought Canelo nicked the rematch. There was no robbery this time. You could score it level or give Golovkin a narrow decision without embarrassing yourself, but my card was 115-113 for Canelo.

The difference was Canelo’s attitude. In the first contest he spent too long near the ropes, allowing Golovkin to march behind that excellent jab. This time he held the centre, pushed Golovkin backwards and attacked the body properly. That mattered. Golovkin landed more punches overall, but too many were jabs without the heavier follow-up. Canelo’s work was more varied and generally carried greater authority.

Golovkin finished strongly and landed some terrific right hands late on, which is why the scoring remained tight. He was still an outstanding fighter, but at 36 he could no longer maintain his old pressure for every minute of every round. Canelo met him head-on and proved he could cope physically, something plenty doubted after their first meeting. I understand why Golovkin’s supporters remain unhappy, but I cannot call this one a bad decision. Canelo earned it by the smallest proper margin.