Gennady Golovkin is the early favorite in rematch vs. Canelo Alvarez
The rematch every boxing fan had been waiting for is here! Yes, Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will hit the ring once again for one of the most hyped up and talked about bouts of the year. After everything that went down in their last fight, this one promises to nothing short of epic either.
For a long time though, it seemed as if the rematch will not happen. Just a few months ago the fight looked dead in the water. The negotiations had hit an impasse and the two camps were not very hopeful of a rematch taking place. The negotiations however carried on and now an agreement has been reached for these two boxers to go at it once again.
The fight is scheduled to take place on September 15, 2018 and it will take place at the T-Mobile Arena. Gennady Golovkin is the early favorite in this rematch vs. Canelo Alvarez in the eyes of many people. A look at the background of the two fighters and the first fight between them is necessary to understand what is on the line in the rematch.
Gennady Golovkin
Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin hails from Kazakhstan and is regarded by many as the best middleweight boxer in the world. The argument has good merit too. Golovkin is the current IBO, WBC and WBA (Super) unified middleweight champion.
Astonishingly enough, he is yet to be knocked out or knocked down in his entire career, both as an amateur and as a professional. This amounts to a whopping 388 fights, with 350 as an amateur and 38 as a professional. GGG’ professional record right now stands at 38-0-1, with only one draw coming his way in the first fight against Alvarez.
Canelo Alvarez
Canelo Alvarez comes from Mexico and has for a long time been regarded as one of the best fighters in the world. He has been a multiple-time champion in not one but two weight classes. His strength is finding weaknesses in the other fighters’ armory and exploiting them to his advantage.
Alvarez is a heavy hitter when it comes to targeting the body of the man across the ring from him. His professional boxing record right now stands at 49-1-2, with thirty four of those wins coming via knockouts.
Canelo Alvarez Vs Gennady Golovkin I
The first fight between Alvarez and Golovkin was named “Supremacy” and it took place on September 16, 2017 at the T-Mobile Arena. Alvarez entered the fight with a 49-1-1 record while GGG was a perfect 37-0-0. Discussions about the fight first began in the year 2015 right after Alvarez beat Miguel Cotto. Initially it was thought that the bout will take place in 2016 but it did not pan out that way.
Alvarez vacated the WBC Middleweight title after defeating Amir Khan on May 18, 2016 and the title was given to GGG. On May 6, 2017, Alvarez beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and made the announcement that he would take on Golovkin next. GGG stepped in the ring to join him in order to promote the bout.
The fight itself was everything it was billed to be. The result was a split draw but the controversial decision was given by Adalaide Byrd who called the fight 118-110 in Alvarez’ favor. While the draw was a fair result, there is no way Alvarez beat Golovkin by that big a margin according to the pundits.
Canelo Alvarez Vs Gennady Golovkin II
The second installment of this epic bout was scheduled to initially take place on May 5, 2018 but just two months before the fight, Alvarez tested positive for Clenbuterol and as a result was suspended for six months. Alvarez had no option but to withdraw from the fight. The ban is given retrospectively as it begins from the date the sample was collected which in Alvarez’ case was February 17th. The ban ends on August 17th and after a lot of negotiations, on June 13, 2018 it was announced that the rematch will take place on September 15, 2018.
Gennady Golovkin is the Favorite
The first match ended in a draw but still there is a big number of people that think GGG did enough to merit a win in that slugfest. He was the better fighter and the more dominant of the two in that fight and that is one of the reasons why he is being tipped as the favorite right now.
Secondly, Alvarez is returning from a suspension and the last time he stepped inside a boxing ring to fight was against in September of last year. That means, there will be ring rust and that will be a handicap when he faces an opponent as formidable as Golovkin. A year is a long time to be away from ring and GGG will have the upper hand there.
There will be a lot at stake when Alvarez and Golovkin face off at the T-Mobile Arena for their rematch. While Gennady Golovkin is the early favorite right now, you just cannot count someone like Alvarez out.
It promises to be another classic between these two great fighters and we cannot wait for the fight to begin.
