He ends a trilogy that will be boxing history of the 21st century and he does so alongside the favorite and great ring superstar, Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez. The man from Guadalajara took no less than nine or ten rounds in a fight that he dominated from start to finish, in which Gennady Golovkin he barely showed a timid reaction in the final part of the fight.
The two previous ones had resulted in a null -much discussed, ‘Triple G’ seemed better- and a victory on points for Canelo. After 24 rounds it was not clear who was the best, so the last dozen punches were essential. Canelo, king of pay-per-view and therefore the one who sets the rules, took the contest four years, which they reached last night in Las Vegas, early in the morning in Spain, with great differences: the 40-year-old Kazakh, too many for the fantastic 32 of the Mexicanwho also decided that the fight was at 168 pounds, where he knows no rival, instead of at middleweight, Golovkin’s native.
Thus, with everything against him, the Kazakh was outclassed from the first round against a Canelo who was throwing some terrible left hand shots with very bad intentions. “Cerradito”, said Eddy Reynoso to his pupil, who became master and lord of the center of a ring in which Golovkin could not find his place. The assaults passed and they were all 10-9 for the one from Jalisco, with a strategy that bordered on perfection. The blows of him, ‘jabs’ like sparks, whistled; those of Golovkin, by contrast, erratic.
Canelo upped the intensity in the fifth round and showed that he wanted the ko, something that no one has ever done to the Kazakh. In fact, in their long careers, neither of them knows what it is to kiss the canvas. They have only lost by math.
Passed the halfway point of the fight, ‘Triple G’ and his corner knew that if the contest completed twelve rounds, winning on the cards was almost utopian. Golovkin was forced to look for the ko, a possibility that was not even glimpsed. The Kazakh reacted, but too late and against a Canelo who showed no vulnerability. He came from Guadalajara after losing to Dimitri Bivol in May before the same public, after making the mistake of going up to the semi-complete (175 pounds) to face the Russian. He returned to his natural weight, 168 pounds, where no one seems to be able to remove his belts from the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Organization and the International Boxing Federation. His new challenges are, at the moment, unknown.
For his part, Gennady Guennadievich Golovkyn has a record of 42 wins, two losses and one null. Only three blemishes in his extraordinary history, all of them blame the redhead. Already amortized as the great champion that he is, it is likely that he will fight one more good fight. Very sporty, he hugged his rival after the twelfth bell and recognized his superiority. What a great brave sport.
The evening began at the T-Mobile Arena in Sin City with Alejandro Fernández and a mariachi choir singing ‘Mexico Lindo’ and ended with Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez (now 58-2-2) celebrating to the cry of ‘ Long live Mexico bastards!’. The stage was his from start to finish in a fight he started winning four years ago.
