Canelo Alvarez – Gennady Golovkin II Aftermath: The Decision and The Future

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By Rich “Lite It Up” Lopez

Two weeks has passed now since the big rematch in Las Vegas that took place between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. So, after 24 rounds, we still have no closure and there is still controversy after the two fights.

1st fight (recap):

In the first fight, most fans and boxing media had felt “GGG” won the fight clearly. I personally scored the fight 115-113 for “GGG” and felt my score was solid. I gave Canelo rounds 1-2 & 10-12 and I gave “GGG” rounds 3-9. I don’t think there were any swing rounds in the fight. The decision in this fight caused an outrage as it was declared a draw. It was not so much the draw that left fans in disgust, it was Adalaide Byrd’s score card of 118-110 for Canelo. We know that fight was not even that one-sided for either fighter. This called for an immediate rematch.

2nd fight hype:

Canelo was also being called a runner and not fighting “Mexican Style” for the build up of the second fight. To add fuel to the fire, Canelo failed two drug tests for traces of Clenbuterol which delayed the rematch. To sum it up, there was bad blood between the two fighters and their respected camps as well.

In the days leading up to the rematch, my question was which fighter was going to make the adjustments? Both fighters were criticized in the 1st fight for not going to the body especially “GGG” which was one of his trademark punches. Canelo has his best moments in the middle of the ring and was the quicker of the two fighters. When he backed up to the ropes, he was effective defensively but was not busy enough which gave the rounds to “GGG”. In my opinion, both fighters were testing each other out and neither fighter took too many risks. Both fighters did test each other’s chin and took each others best shots.

2nd fight:

After 12 action packed rounds, we had another close fight once again. This time Canelo won the fight by majority decision and I felt the scores were fair this time around.

My scorecard was as follows:

Round 1: “GGG” 10-9
Round 2: Canelo 10-9
Round 3: Canelo 10-9
Round 4: “GGG” 10-9
Round 5: Canelo 10-9
Round 6: Canelo 10-9
Round 7: Canelo 10-9
Round 8: Canelo 10-9 (very close round)
Round 9: “GGG” 10-9
Round 10: “GGG” 10-9
Round 11: “GGG” 10-9
Round 12: Canelo 10-9 (very close round)

I had Canelo winning the fight 115-113 and had no problem with the decision. I had viewed the fight three times. Once at ringside, once on TV with sound on, and once on TV with sound off. Just for fun, I had my daughter score the fight and she had it 115-113 “GGG”. My wife and other daughter viewed the fight did not score it but felt the fight was a draw. I felt the 8th and 12th round were the closest rounds and could of gone either way. At the end, this was one of the closest and hardest fights to score.

Thoughts on the fight:

I felt Canelo proved himself in this fight and he was the fighter that made the adjustments. Canelo kept the fight in the middle of the ring and this time he was backing up “GGG”. Also Canelo did well with his body punching attack and “GGG” abandoned the body punching again. “GGG” out-landed Canelo only with the jabs. Power shots went to Canelo in this fight. I think the improvement of Canelo’s attack in this fight swung the decision towards him. According to punch stats, “GGG” landed about 32 more punches on Canelo which is why most fans thought “GGG” won the fight. To be honest, 32 more punches shows this was a close fight and punch stats are not always accurate.

Fans and Media:

Most of the media felt “GGG” won the fight close or it was a draw. Most boxers that viewed the fight, felt that Canelo won the fight close. Nobody was wrong here and the fight was too close to call. However, if you are one of the few people that felt “GGG” won the fight clearly or he was robbed, I would urge those viewers to watch the fight carefully or stop being biased. I felt the judges did a better job in the scoring this time around. Fight fans at the end should be happy that we were treated to another great fight and this fight was better than the first one.

Let’s put it this way, neither “GGG” or Abel Sanchez were crying foul this time around. They accepted the decision and gave Canelo his props. Canelo fought the way they wanted and was far more competitive.

The Future:

Obviously, we will get a rubber match probably sometime next year to settle the score. In my opinion, I had “GGG” winning the first fight and Canelo winning the second fight. They will probably fight different opponents before facing off with each other, which is fine. If I have to make a prediction in the 3rd fight, I believe Canelo will win the fight more convincingly. The reason being, is that Canelo is the younger fighter and he’s in his peak. “GGG” is getting older and showed little signs of this in the rematch. I don’t think “GGG” could do much better than what we saw in the rematch. Either way, I do expect to see another great fight once these warriors lace them up again.

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