Canelo Alvarez has decided to face Gennadiy Golovkin in their long-awaited trilogy match on September 17th instead of going straight into a rematch with Dmitry Bivol.
The venue for the Canelo vs. Golovkin III contest has yet to be decided, but it may be brought back to Las Vegas. That’s where the two stars fought their first two bouts. It’ll be shown on DAZN pay-per-view.
While it’s a bit of a surprise that Canelo (57-2-2, 39 KOs) has opted for the trilogy battle against his nemesis Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) over an immediate second fight with WBA light heavyweight champion Bivol, it makes all the sense in the world.
Canelo, 31, will make a lot of money fighting Golovkin on DAZN PPV, and the rematch with Bivol will still be there for him afterward. The Mexican star Canelo will be a massive favorite over the 40-year-old Golovkin, and it would give him a chance to pick up a solid win going into his rematch with Bivol.
To be sure, Canelo told his fans & the media that he would run it back against Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) after losing a close 12-round unanimous decision to him earlier this month on May 7th. Still, he must follow through with his plans to fight Golovkin on September 17th.
Canelo and Golovkin were already scheduled to fight in September, but what temporarily put these plans in doubt was the 4:1 underdog Bivol pulling off a massive upset over the Mexican star.
“We already had that contract [with Gennadiy Golovkin], that agreement, so we have to continue what we started, and I think those are the two biggest fights in boxing, the fight with Golovkin and the rematch with Bivol,” Canelo said on Monday at the golf invitational in Naucalpan, Mexico.
Canelo will be returning to the super middleweight division to defend his undisputed championship against Golovkin, who will be moving up in weight to battle him.
Although Golovkin hasn’t looked good in his recent fights against Ryota Murata, Kamil Szeremeta, and Sergiy Derevyanchenko, he might be more potent in moving up to 168 for the Canelo fight.
Golovkin looked badly drained in making weight for those three contests, and it was perhaps overdue that he made a move up to super middleweight.
Canelo is coming into the Golovkin fight after being outboxed by the bigger WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7th in Las Vegas. The judges scored the fight closely at 115-113, 115-113, and 115-113.
However, many boxing fans had Bivol winning by 10-2, and they felt it wasn’t a close contest.
“Unfortunately, we lost, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try again,” Canelo said about his loss to Bivol. “The important thing here is perseverance, and we’re going to do it again.
“What is certain is that we are going to return in September. And in the coming days, we are going to announce the fight.”
It should be interesting to see how well Golovkin deals with his move up to 168.
