Saul Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin both were slow in adapting during their previous fight on September 16. Canelo was stuck moving along the ropes, failing to take the fight to Golovkin in center ring.
For his part, Golovkin wasted too much time staying on the outside jabbing and not mixing it up with Canelo. Both fighters stuck with the same game plan pretty much the entire fight. Canelo tried to come after Golovkin in the last 2 rounds to show more aggression, but it was ineffective pressure.
Golovkin continually met Canelo’s forward pressure with hard jabs to the head. Even in the 12th, a round which some boxing fans felt Canelo won, the Golden Boy fighter got the worst of it. Golovkin still appeared to do enough with his jab to win the round.
The Caneo-GGG fight was scored a 12 round draw by the 3 judges. While a lot of boxing fans were upset about the results, the judges saw the 2 combatants as not having done enough to deserve the victory. I agree with the judges. Canelo and Golovkin didn’t adapt the way they should have, and that hurt their chances to win the fight.
Here’s what I think Golovkin needs to do for him to beat Canelo in the rematch:
• Throw more body shots. Golovkin didn’t throw any punches in the first fight, and that was a critical error on his part. Canelo was hurt to the body in his fights with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Liam Smith
• Mix it up more. Golovkin spent too much time jabbing Canelo, and not attacking him the way he normally goes after his opponents. The way Golovkin fought was like a fighter who was afraid of his opponent
• Pressure Canelo more in the first 4 rounds. Golovkin gave away the first 3 rounds last September by not engaging with Canelo. He can’t do that in the rematch if he wants to win the fight
• Force Canelo to fight hard for a full 3 minutes of each round. It’s well documented that Canelo has poor stamina. He’s always had poor stamina since he first turned. Golovkin wasted his opportunity to wear Canelo down by staying on the outside and just jabbing him
This is the keys to victory for Canelo in the Golovkin rematch:
• Come into the fight lighter. Canelo was much too heavy for the Golovkin fight. Canelo’s physique was extremely vascular and cut up in a way that he had never been in the past. The huge amount of muscle weight that Canelo packed on in a VERY short amount of time for the fight seemed to hurt his stamina against Golovkin
• Attack Golovkin more. Don’t spend time fighting on the ropes like last time. Canelo was most effective when he was going after Golovkin.
• Don’t run from Golovkin. Canelo must attack Golovkin to have a chance to win.