By: Hans Themistode
Gennadiy Golovkin has been a proverbial thorn in the side of Canelo Alvarez for approximately a half-decade now.
In back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, both Golovkin and Alvarez waged a back and forth war in the ring. Although Alvarez was given a split decision draw in their first showdown and a majority decision win in their sequel, Golovkin has vehemently protested that the sport of boxing got it painfully wrong.
Since straddling the first defeat of his career to his longtime rival, Alvarez has gone on to win multiple championships. In addition to unifying middleweight titles against Daniel Jacobs in 2019, Alvarez captured the WBO light heavyweight crown against Sergey Kovalev, as well as every world title at 168 pounds.
With more gold than he can account for, Alvarez is eyeing another light heavyweight title, as well as a third showdown with Golovkin. The pound-for-pound star from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, recently signed off on a three-fight deal with promoter Eddie Hearn that will see him square off against WBA light heavyweight champion, Dmitry Bivol.
Provided everything goes according to plan, Alvarez would move on to the second fight of his new deal, a showdown against Golovkin.
For the most part, Alvarez has sat quietly as Golovkin has openly chastised him, going as far as to say that not only is Alvarez “delusional” but also that he defeated the Mexican star on both occasions. Now, with their contest just within reach, Alvarez plans on putting a violent nail in Golovkin’s coffin.
“Yes that’s what I feel,” said Alvarez when asked if he will knock Golovkin out this time around on Fight Hub TV.
Before Alvarez gets too antsy, there are a few steps that must take place beforehand. First and foremost, Alvarez must take care of business against Bivol and successfully end his near five-year title reign. Also, Golovkin will need to get past WBA middleweight champion, Ryota Murata. The two are set to tango on April 9th, in Murata’s native land of Japan.
For now, Alvarez isn’t trying to get too ahead of himself. At the moment, he’ll simply place Golovkin on the back burner and turn all of his attention on a man he considers to be the best in the light heavyweight division.
“First things first, I need to win this fight but that’s what I feel.”