Gennady Golovkin knows he won the first fight, Canelo Alvarez says he won the first fight. Now, some five months on from that epic yet controversial night in Las Vegas, we await with bated breath the sequel, the rematch – the decider! And what better way to decide, once and for all, any rivalry than with a KO, from one side or the other, in the rematch of a big, big fight.
GGG says he will indeed score a fight-ender on May 5, but so too does Canelo. Which fighter is telling the truth in this case? Maybe neither guy will make good on his prediction – a pretty bold one in the case of GGG and a hugely brave one coming from Canelo – as these two superbly matched 160 pounders will again battle for all 12 rounds. Fans won’t in any way mind seeing another 12 rounds of engrossing action, so long as a definitive winner emerges at the end of them. And this is where the problem may well lie.
We don’t yet know the venue of the rematch, but chances seem strong that should the fight go all 12 again, we will see a controversial, or at least debatable decision again. So it’d be so much better all round if either fighter-A (GGG) or fighter-B (Canelo) scored a conclusive, controversy-free KO, right?
And both men say that’s what they’re training for (why not so in the preps ahead of fight-one, a fan may well ask?). But who has the better shot at landing the sweet shot; the KO blow?
“This times the judges will not have to decide the result with their scores,” Canelo has stated.
“No judges will be needed this time,” Golovkin has vowed.
GGG, though, has a tough nut to crack in the proud Mexican warrior. Not once in the September fight was the flame-haired warrior noticeably wobbled, nor did he at any time appear to be canvas-bound. So how can Triple-G get the job done inside the distance this time round? By going to the body in a far more rigorous manner, maybe?
As for Canelo, he faces an almost impossible task in rendering GGG unconscious. As fans are aware, the reigning world middleweight champion has never.once.hit.the.canvas – amateur or pro. In possession of the most reliable chin belonging to a middleweight since the days of the fearsome Marvin Hagler, Golovkin appears almost bulletproof, or bombproof.
Unless GGG hits the midsection sweet spot, or unless GGG ages significantly in the return, May 5 will see a distance fight. Again, fans will be happy enough with this, so long as an outright winner has his hand raised.
If we don’t get one, it could well be on to fight-three.