Canelo-GGG Superfight Announced Among Wreckage Of Canelo-Chavez Disaster
By: Sean Crose
There probably isn’t a fight fan in the world who would have thought the announcement of a Canelo Alvarez – Gennady Golovkin match would come during one of the worst nights the sport of boxing has endured in years. Yes, Canelo Alvarez and GGG have agreed to fight on September 16th. That’s nothing but enormous and wonderful news.
Unfortunately, the announcement came immediately after what had to be one of the sport’s bleaker performances. For the notorious Julio Caesar Chavez Jr made a classically bad showing of himself against Canelo Saturday night in Vegas. Just how bad was Junior’s performance? Think Buster Douglas…against Evander Holyfield. Even the fact the match everyone wants to see was announced immediately afterward couldn’t take the bad taste out of the fight world’s mouth.
What a shame. It was kind of like receiving the greatest birthday present ever in the parking lot of a funeral home after a wake. Still, it’s nice to see boxing making the matches fans want. Yes, it took too long for Canelo-GGG to be made, but at least Canelo and promoter Oscar De La Hoya didn’t drag their heels for as long as many thought they would. This bout is a big risk for Canelo, after all. Most will probably assume he’s going to lose. Then again, most thought his battle against Chavez Junior would at least be entertaining, so there’s that to chew on.
The reality is that team Canelo was fortunate to announce the fight in the ring immediately after Junior phoned it in against it’s man. Saturday provided a very, VERY bad night of boxing. If Canelo-GGG wasn’t made a reality, if GGG hadn’t stepped into the ring in grand fashion to help kick things off, the situation would have been that much worse. And the irony that a terrible weekend directly followed the great weekend of the Anthony Joshua–Wladimir Klitschko bout would have been completely disheartening to fans. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
And so now the biggest fight in boxing is a reality. That’s something to get excited about. Again, Golovkin will probably – and rightly – be the favorite, but it would be unwise to sleep on Canelo. The man has proven to be an exceedingly skilled fighter, a menace to anyone he steps in the ring against. It’s hard to dispute the guy puts his punches together better than most anyone else in the sport. In short, this will be a bout looking forward to, even in light of Saturday’s colossal disappointment.