SHOCKING Reason Why Canelo Alvarez Gave Up his Title Not to Fight Gennady “GGG” Golovkin!
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By Roy “Sharpshooter” Bennett
Subsequent to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vacating his lineal WBC middleweight title I wanted some background on what would have prompted the Mexican boy wonder to have done such a thing? After all any boxing fan worth his salt knows the Mexican pugilistic tradition is without reproach. Throughout boxing’s storied history Mexican boxers have proven their fearlessness, bravery, and skill time and again against all comers. Which is why Canelo’s decision to relinquish rather than defend his title against Gennady Golovkin – his No.1 mandatory contender – sent shockwaves reverberating through the sport.
I’m all about due diligence. So I reached out to someone in the know to give me the answers to a couple of questions I had.
Gather round the camp fire. You need to hear this. A few weeks back I was chopping it up with Darnell Boone. For the casuals among you who haven’t heard of him, Boone is a very well respected 168-175lb professional fighter who has a 2nd round knockout win over Adonis Stevenson on his ledger, gave Sergey Kovalev hell in losing a split decision by one point, and who put Andre Ward down hard face first on the canvas. In fact, he came close to knocking Ward clean out! He has also worked as a sparring partner for Gennady Golovkin.
RB: Firstly, can you give me some insight into what sparring GGG is actually like and what makes him so effective? Secondly, what style of fighter do you think might give him the most problems? A pure boxer/ tricky southpaw like Erislandy Lara. An old skool slickster/ boxer puncher like a James Toney? Or a heavy handed bomber who was physically very strong and durable like an Iran Barkley? I’d be very interested in getting your take on this as you’ve sparred numerous rounds with Golovkin.
Boone’s answer: A crafty puncher that has great boxing skills but he has to have extreme conditioning. What sets him “GGG” apart is he knows exactly where to hit you, how hard to hit you to get a reaction, and his conditioning is phenomenal. You gotta let it all hang out in there with him but you can’t get tired
Does any part of the imaginary fighter Darnell Boone describes sound like Canelo Alvarez to you? Nope. I didn’t think so either. No wonder he dropped the lineal middleweight championship belt in the dumpster and ran for the hills. Quite simply his actions are not those of a man who believes he has a chance of beating his opponent. The Canelo faithful will shake their heads and continue to opine that their fighter has fought better competition and will emerge with the win. I’m good with it. It’s only right you stick with your guy. But I believe all available evidence points to the contrary.
Personally I can’t even look at this guy anymore after what he did. I’m madder than a cowboy with a blister on his ass and a long ride in front of him. I’m done. And more than a few Mexican boxing fans feel the same way. And now it’s being reported Golden Boy Promotions have recently approached Liam Smith, the WBO junior middleweight champion from Britain, for Canelo to feast on. Another smaller boxer with a meaningless trinket.
Listen. This is the hurt business. Part of the allure of the sport for the ordinary man and woman in the street is the fact that a champion doesn’t show fear. Unlike the rest of us he is elevated above the level of being a mere mortal. Yellow steaks are not an acceptable part of a fighter’s make up to the passionate fans that spend their hard earned money to watch their heroes do battle. Yeah, it’s not a very “PC” thing to say but to hell with it. It is what it is.
Golden Boy Promotions star fighter spoke all that crap in the ring but, when the time came to back it up, the thought of being made into a good boy by the anvil like fists of Gennady Golovkin was just too much of a frightening proposition. Canelo ran. And ran. And he’s still running. “GGG’s” promoter Tom Loeffler recently said Canelo’s people have not contacted him since he vacated the title.
I guess they don’t make champions like they used to anymore. And that’s a damn shame. For the sport and the fans.
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