Fight Week: Canelo Alvarez, Gennadiy Golovkin will do it one more time
FIGHT WEEK
Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin will close out their rivalry in a third fight on pay-per-view Saturday night in Las Vegas.
CANELO ALVAREZ (57-2-2, 39 KOs) VS. GENNADIY GOLOVKIN (42-1-1, 37 KOs)
When: Saturday, Sept. 17 Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas TV/Stream: Pay-per-view Cost: $84.99 in U.S. Division: Super middleweight (168-pound limit) At stake: Alvarez’s undisputed championship Pound-for-pound ranking: Alvarez No. 7, Golovkin No. 13 Odds: Alvarez 4½-1 favorite Also on the card: Jesse Rodriguez vs. Israel Gonzalez, junior bantamweights (for Rodriguez’s WBC title); Ali Akhmedov vs. Gabriel Rosado, super middleweights; Austin Williams vs. Kieron Conway, middleweights; Diego Pacheco vs. Enrique Collazo, super middleweights Prediction: Alvarez UD Background: The third fight between these rivals is four years coming. They fought to a disputed draw in 2017 and Alvarez won the rematch by a close decision the following year, after which the Mexican star indicated that the rivalry was “finished business.” However, fans have always embraced the idea of a third fight and DAZN – with which both men are affiliated – has pushed for it. So here we are. Alvarez is coming off his first loss since he fell to Floyd Mayweather in 2013, a unanimous-decision upset against 175-pound champ Dmitry Bivol in May that knocked him out of the top spot of most pound-for-pound lists. He’s moving back down to 168 for the fourth defense of his titles and a more-winnable matchup against a 40-year-old moving up from 160 for the fight. Golovkin began to show signs of decline in a close decision over Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October 2019. He subsequently stopped Kamil Szeremeta and Ryota Murata (for two titles this past April) but he didn’t convince many observers that he had regained his old form. Of course, this is a golden opportunity for Triple-G to prove everyone wrong. Also on the card, talented “Bam” Rodriguez (16-0, 11 KOs) of San Antonio defends his title against Mexican Israel Gonzalez (28-4-1, 11 KOs) after spectacular back-to-back victories over Carlos Cuadras(UD) and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (TKO 8) this year.
ALSO FIGHTING THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY
Bryan Acosta vs. Jon Martinez, featherweights, Toronto (DAZN)FRIDAY
Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Carlos Takam, heavyweights, Montreal (ESPN+) Luis Torres vs. Cesar Gutierrez, lightweights, Obregon, Mexico (Canela TV)