All of the super middleweight world title belts are on the line in today’s headlining Las Vegas clash between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, but even more than that, both men are fighting to prove their point as they reignite their rivalry.
Golovkin- 42-1-1, 37 KOs – believes he won both their previous meetings. Canelo – 57-2-2, 39 KOs – is furious that most onlookers tend to agree. The genuine dislike between them that this has created should make for additional spice to a matchup that has already given us two superb contests the last two times.
This post will provide live play-by-play of the main event. The preliminary card starts at 4.45pm ET on DAZN, with the main card moving to PPV at 8PM ET.
Round-by-Round
Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin
Round 1- Canelo looks to push Golovkin back with some big swings, mostly missing. GGG responds by peppering him with jabs. Cagey through the middle of the round, lot of feinting. Tight round, but Golovkin’s jab scored. 10-9 Golovkin
Round 2- Canelo starts round 2 by countering Golovkin’s jabs. Going big on the left hook and overhand right. Not a lot of bodywork from either man yet, Golovkin fires a right downstairs now. Canelo finishing the round the stronger. 10-9 Canelo, 19-19
Round 3- Every time Golovkin throws his right hand Canelo counters hard over the top. Golovkin a bit hesitant to throw. Lands a solid jab but eats a threa-punch counter. Golovkin pushes him back a little to end the round. 10-9 Canelo, 29-28
Round 4- Canelo’s lead left to the head on the money so far. Pushes Golovkin back with right hands to the body. Golovkin not doing much other than jab, and finding that countered too. Lots of twitchy movement but the action is coming from Canelo. 10-9 Canelo, 39-37
Round 5- Golovkin starts the round pushing Canelo back with a busy jab. Soon back to being forced bac, Canelo working the body consistently now. Not everything is landing, but Golovkin isn’t punishing the misses. Some of the bodywork is edging around behind, bringing a warning from the referee, but Golovkin’s starting to feel the pace. 10-9 Canelo, 49-46
Round 6- Golovkin’s corner gave him a talk between rounds, but it’s not happening for him in the ring. Canelo’s slipping most of his jabs. Pushes Canelo back a little bit through the middle of the round, some effectiveness with the jab, but Canelo ends strong with counters again. 10-9 Canelo, 59-55
Round 7- Canelo takes the lead to start the round. Not waiting for counters now, throwing combinations behind his own jab. An uppercut-right-hook combination makes Golovkin wince a bit. Backs off a little but even when not in the corners, Golovkin’s struggling to get off. Finishes with some jabs, Canelo counters with a right to the body. 10-9 Canelo, 69-64
Round 8- The story of the fight here is that both can see what the other one’s doing, but Canelo can avoid it and Golovkin can’t. Canelo working with Golovkin when the Kazakh tries to push, and punishes him when he wants to back off. More right hands coming from GGG now, but Canelo fires right back. 10-9 Canelo, 79-73
Round 9- Golovkin opens with a lead-hand uppercut-hook combination, which scores, but Canelo responds immediately. Golovkin has definitely got the message that he needs to get to work, Catches Canelo mid-combination and Canelo felt that! Pushes Canelo back and Canelo’s taking a few seconds to make sure he gets his legs back. Strong right from Canelo but Golovkin jabs him to the ropes to end the round. 10-9 Golovkin, 83-88
Round 10- Canelo opens the jab on the front foot, a left hook counter from Golovkin backs him off for a second. Canelo’s response is to go back to the well working the body, then slide back to make Golovkin’s counters miss wild. Some success from Golovkin with the lead hand, the jab getting home more consistently now, Canelo scores working with him though. Round ends on an accidental clash of heads. 10-9 Canelo, 98-92
Round 11- Golovkin opens jabing furiously. Canelo eats some of them, but reads the rhythm and counters with a right. Golovkin’s determined here, he’s not going down without a fight. Canelo trying to take the pace out of the round for a bit, Golovkin continues to score with jabs. Canelo looks to close the round strong again, but much of the work misses. 10-9 Golovkin, 102-107
Round 12- They go toe-to-toe to start the 12th, both want to put a stamp on it. Golovkin knows he needs something big. Bit of clinching and shoving around, some success from both inside but Mora breaks as they hold. Canelo holding on whenever Golovkin comes in now. Canelo looks like he’s started to run out of gas, which is remarkable considering the age gap, but Golovkin needs a KO and he’s not going to get one. They finish exchanging in the middle again. Golovkin came to life in the back half, but it’s not going to be enough. 10-9 Golovkin, final score 116-112 Canelo
Official scores: 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 Canelo
Full results:
Main Card (8 PM ET, DAZN PPV)
Undisputed super middleweight championship: Saul Alvarez def. Gennady Golovkin (116-112, 115-113, 115-113)
WBC super flyweight championship: Jesse Rodriguez UD-12 Israel Gonzalez (118-109, 117-110, 114-113)
Super middleweight: Ali Akhmedov UD-10 Gabriel Rosado (100-90, 100-90, 100-90)
Middleweight: Austin Williams UD-10 Kieron Conway (96-93, 97-92, 97-92)
Preliminary Card (4:45 PM ET, DAZN)
Middleweight: Diego Pacheco TKO-5 Enrique Collazo (2:29)
Lightweight: Marc Castro KO-5 Kevin Montiel (1:40)
Super lightweight: Aaron Aponte D-8 Fernando Molina (74-76, 75-75, 76-74)
Super flyweight: Anthony Herrera UD-5 Delvin McKinley (50-45, 50-45, 50-45 [technical decision, fight stopped on clash of heads])