The highly anticipated showdown between undefeated unified WBA/WBC/IBF middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin and lineal middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez took place this past Saturday in Las Vegas. While the fight may not have lived up to its lofty expectations, it wound up being a very good competitively fought encounter. But despite that, the fight still wound up disappointing a large portion of fans, when it was controversially ruled a draw.
Canelo started well early in the contest, where his advantages in speed and big fight experience gave him the early edge. Golovkin seemed uncharacteristically unfocused, due to Canelo’s skills, and perhaps being a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of the event. But Golovkin eventually settled in, and began fighting effectively, where it seemed that Gennady was controlling the action and dictating the terms of the fight. But the judges did not see it this way.
Dave Moretti scored it 115-113 for Gennady Golovkin, Don Trella had it a draw 114-114, and Adalaide Byrd inexplicably scored the bout 118-110 in favor of Canelo Alvarez. The overwhelming majority of observers believe that Golovkin earned and deserved the victory. Most observers believe that HBO’s unofficial scorer Harold Lederman provided a more accurate assessment of the fight on his unofficial card, where he scored it 116-112 in favor of Golovkin.
Many fans are comparing the controversial draw to other famous controversial draws, such as the first of two heavyweight unification bouts between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, as well as the high profile bout between Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker. In all three instances – the majority of onlookers believed that the boxing politics may have factored into the bigger draw getting the nod in a fight that he clearly deserved to lose on the cards. Is that what happened here? Or was this bout closer than the majority thinks?
This edition of Rummy’s Corner provides a brief recap with highlights of the middleweight championship bout that took place between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin. Please watch and enjoy the video!