Canelo Alvarez Narrowly Beats Gennady Golovkin In Rematch, Wins Unified Middleweight Titles

The rematch to last year’s Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin mega event ended in another exciting fight, but this time a winner was produced, though not decisively.

Alvarez defeated Golovkin with a razor thin majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 115-113) to win the WBA “super,” WBC and Ring Magazine middleweight titles almost one year exactly to the day their first encounter ended in a still-controversial split draw. On its live coverage page, Fightful had the fight scored in favor of Golovkin 116-112.

The fight was back-and-forth and Golovkin looked to once again establish the jab and outwork Alvarez. Both fighters constantly exchanged power punches with Golovkin coming forward with the jab to Alvarez’s head and Alvarez tagging Golovkin’s body with multiple left hooks.

Starting in the second half of the fight, Golovkin looked like he was starting to tire out a bit. But Golovkin caught his second win in the last few rounds of the fight, landing right hands to the Mexican star which stunned him and even in one instance in the 11th round, hurt Alvarez.

In the stats department, the fight was also very close. According to CompuBox, Alvarez landed 202 of 622 total punches (33 percent) while Golovkin, who outlanded Alvarez in eight of the 12 rounds, connected 234 out of 879 punches (27 percent).

The first fight between the two came with much fanfare, but when it was all said and done, there was a lot of outcry from the boxing world over the split draw, believing that Golovkin deserved the victory.

For now, the win for Alvarez ends a rivalry that has been brewing for well over a year. The rematch was supposed to take place back in May, but Alvarez tested positive for clenbuterol, postponing the fight. Since then, the animosity between Alvarez and Golovkin seemed to grow even deeper, culminating in a hotly-contested rematch.

The futures of both Alvarez and Golovkin are unknown especially after they are reportedly no longer signed to HBO due to their contracts expiring after this fight. Golovkin no longer has any middleweight world titles, and would have to wait and see what happens with the IBF and WBO middleweight title fights next month before deciding on what his future has in store.

Alvarez’s future is a little more clear, but there are multiple routes to take. On the undercard, David Lemieux knocked out Gary O’Sullivan in the first round to become the mandatory challenger to Alvarez’s new WBA title. Both Alvarez and Lemieux are promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Eric Gomez, the president of GBP, recently said the company has reserved Madison Square Garden for a December date with Alvarez headlining.

There is also Jermall Charlo, the WBC’s interim champion and mandatory challenger to Alvarez’s WBC title. Whether or not WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman enforces a mandatory fight between Alvarez and Charlo remains to be seen.

But what about a third match against Golovkin? Although Alvarez now is in the lead in the rivalry with a 1-0-1 record, both fights were extremely close. Speaking to HBO immediately after the fight, Alvarez wouldn’t rule out the possibility of another rematch with Golovkin.

“That was a great fight, but in the end, it was victory for Mexico. And again, it was an opportunity, and I want to shout out to my opponent, the best in the sport of boxing. I am a great fighter, and I showed it tonight. If people want another round, I’ll do it again,” Alvarez said.

Fightful had a post-show podcast with managing editor Sean Ross Sapp and lead boxing reported and can be seen at this link.