By: Sean Crose
This sort of thing is awkward to write about because it unintentionally suggests that Canelo Alvarez is responsible for every boxing judge who has ruled questionably in his favor. And that’s unfair. Canelo, yes even in the days after his sound defeat to Dmitry Bivol, is an amazing fighter. He’s brave, talented, skilled and fearless. It’s not his fault that it’s now essentially accepted throughout the fight world that judges give him preferential treatment. Again, this has nothing to do with Canelo himself, as Canelo has done nothing wrong when it comes to the judging of his fights.
Now that it looks like Canelo may be slipping between the ropes for the third time to face arch rival Gennady Golovkin, however, it’s worth wondering if Golovkin has any chance, any chance at all, of besting the red haired legend on the scorecards. They’ve met twice before, after all. The first time they fought to a draw and the second time Canelo got the nod. Both decisions were controversial, particularly the first, as most felt the judges gave Canelo a gift. Until quite recently, it was safe to say most felt the third fight would actually go down without controversy. Canelo was in his prime, the argument more or less went, and Golovkin was aging and largely inactive. Since Canelo was defeated by Bivol a few weeks ago, however, things have changed – at least a little.
There will now be those who will now argue that Canelo has slipped, that he’ll now be missing a step or two in his fights. There will also be those who ridiculously say the guy is overrated and always has been. Lastly, there will be those who argue Canelo is too rattled from the Bivol fight to perform as well as he should when he faces Golovkin again (reportedly in September). While Canelo has never, not for a second, been over-rated, he may well be lacking confidence when he meets Golovkin after the Bivol loss. Who knows? Perhaps he may also prove to be past his zenith.
Will any of that matter, though? If the world learned anything during their first two fights it was the fact that, when they’re on, Canelo and Golovkin are essentially evenly matched. Considering the fact that Bivol barely got the judges’ not after dominating Canelo for most all of 12 rounds, how does Golovkin stand a chance? It’s doubtful either man will get knocked out or stopped during their third fight – though one never knows. Although it’s irresponsible to accuse any judge of corruption without the backing of some serious evidence, it’s very safe to assume that some top judges in boxing simply tend to love Canelo’s style. The problem is, they seem to love it too much. Perhaps they know something we don’t – they ARE paid professionals, after all.
If that’s the case, though, perhaps they can enlighten us, for they’re not looking particularly great at their jobs at the moment.
