By: Sean Crose
Leading up to Gennady Golovkin’s fight with Canelo Alvarez this weekend, it seemed like any outcome might be possible. Golovkin (37-0-1), of course, was seen by some as being on the road to taking his man out. Yet more than a few thought it would be Canelo (49-1-2) who would take out Golovkin before the final bell on Saturday evening at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas. There were those who also believed that Golovkin would best his man on the judge’s cards while others believed it would be Canelo who would ultimately be awarded a victory from the judges. Again, any outcome seemed possible leading up to tonight’s middleweight title bout.
Photo Credit: USA Today
Except, of course, a draw.
And that’s what Canelo’s terrific fight with Golovkin ended up being ruled – a draw. Many took to Twitter immediately after the match to express unhappiness. Indeed, both fighters were less than happy after the decision was read. This was to be expected, however. Fortunately, though, a top level fight was expected, as well…and that’s exactly what the fans got. Canelo started off looking razor sharp, avoiding Golovkin’s best shots while landing clean on his own. This author gave the Mexican star the first three rounds right off the bat. As the fight moved on, however, Golovkin began to find his mark – over and over again. Sure enough, the hard hitting Kazakh put himself in the driver’s seat leading into the championship rounds.
Golovkin was able to accomplish this impressive feat by hunting, always hunting. The man simply never stopped coming forward, patiently and effectively, cutting off the ring and taking it to Canelo in a way that may not have been explosive, but was quite effective nonetheless. Yet Canelo kept landing impressive shots throughout the fight. Those shots were showy, extremely well delivered and powerful to have probably knocked out anyone other fighter than Golovkin. Unfortunately for Canelo, it was Golovkin himself who he was facing this evening. That meant the kinds of shots that flattened James Kirkland and Amir Khan had little to no effect on the man before him. It was, to be sure, easy to give each man his due after the final rounds came and went.
And ultimately, that’s what happened. Each man got his due. Yet at the same time, neither man got his due for a top notch performance. Dave Moretti gave the fight to Golovkin by a score of 115-113. Don Trella scored it 114 even. And Adalaide Byrd continued to damage a shaky reputation by giving the bout to Canelo by the outrageous score of 118-110.
Unfortunately, Byrd’s score put a damper on a brilliant night of boxing. People had great expectations for this long awaited superbout and the superbout delivered. Clearly, a rematch is in order.
