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Mike CoppingerESPN
LAS VEGAS — Canelo Alvarez meets his bitter rival Gennaidy Golovkin for a third time on Saturday — the undisputed 168-pound championship will be on the line — and the feud has grown so heated that boxing’s top star has vowed to “end his career.”
GGG is now 40, and Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) clearly figures that a knockout defeat for Golovkin at this stage would coax him into retirement. After 24 rounds waged on even terms, anything but a decision victory for either fighter would be a surprise, especially when you consider the punch resistance of the future Hall of Famers.
Neither fighter has ever tasted the canvas, and Golovkin’s streak dates back to his amateur days that culminated in a 2004 Olympic silver medal.
“Now he thinks that he’s in a position to voice those accusations and say that he can knock me out, that he can finish my career,” Golovkin, a native of Kazakhstan who fights out of L.A., said on Wednesday. “Who is he to start or finish anybody’s career? Maybe he tries to, I don’t know, score some points. But based on age, his position, it’s not up to him.”
They met for the first time in September 2017, a controversial draw that Golovkin was adamant he won. The rematch was postponed after Alvarez tested positive for a banned substance, an adverse finding he blamed on tainted meat consumed in his native Guadalajara, Mexico.
Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) didn’t buy the excuse and said that, on second thought, he noticed injection marks on Alvarez’s body. The comments didn’t sit well with Canelo, pushing the feud to a new level.
The second bout was rescheduled for September 2018, and Alvarez won via majority decision to unify 160-pound titles. GGG pushed for the rematch, but Alvarez showed no interest, instead jumping weight classes to win titles at 168 and 175 pounds.
Following an upset loss to Dmitry Bivol in May in a light heavyweight title fight, Alvarez is now back at 168 pounds, where he feels most comfortable. Golovkin, who holds two 160-pound titles, will compete at 168 for the first time.
“If he wanted this fight back then, if he thought it’s personal, that fight should’ve happened immediately,” Golovkin said. “And why was he waiting for four years then?
“He has the right to say that it’s personal but let me tell you what I see. I think he says it because this is [my] last fight with DAZN. There is an agreement with DAZN that there will be no obligations [after this fight]. He just kind of thinks this situation, thinking about my situation, thinking that a lot of time has passed, four years.”
Golovkin doesn’t appear to be thinking about retirement, and even if he does lose, he can return to middleweight to defend his two titles. There are also plenty of options at 168 pounds, whether it’s a fight against Jermall Charlo or David Benavidez.
Alvarez, on the other hand, is 32 and has plenty of years left in his prime. He seems to be peaking now despite the defeat in May and is determined to end the rivalry conclusively once and for all.
“I just want to punish him really hard,” Alvarez said. “And I’m very close to doing it. He pretends to be a nice person and he talks a lot of s— about me. That’s why I don’t like him. He’s a good fighter. He’s a great fighter. That’s for sure.”