A LOOK AT GGG AND CANELO GOING TO THEIR MOST AWAITED FIGHT
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 15 Sep 2017
Gennady Golovkin versus Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez is the highly anticipated fight in Las Vegas on Saturday and is the highlight of the calendar for boxing fanatics all over the world. Golovkin, considered one of the world's most fearsome fighters, preserves his unbeaten streak in three world titles against the most popular and top rated Mexican fighter Alvarez. The fight goes more or less even after Daniel Jacobs fought Golovkin to12 rounds last March, and many experts give Canelo a chance against the GGG. Here we take a look at the two fighters, their tale of the tape and their success stories.
* * *
Birth name: Santos Sa?l ?lvarez Barrag?n
Nickname: Canelo
Birth date: July 18, 1990
Age: 27
Nationality: Mexico
Residence: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Birth place: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Wins: 49
KO wins: 34
KO rate: 67%
Losses: 1
Draws: 1
Bouts: 51 bouts
Rounds: 353
Height: 5'9" (175cm)
Reach: 70?″ (179cm)
Stance: orthodox
* * *
Birth name: Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin
Nickname: GGG, Triple G
Birth date: April 8, 1982
Age: 35
Nationality: Kazakhstan
Residence: Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth place: Karaganda, Kazakhstan
Wins: 37
KO wins: 33
KO rate: 89%
Losses: 0
Draws: 0
Bouts: 37
Rounds: 172
Height: 5′ 10?″ (179cm)
Reach: 70″ (178cm)
Stance: orthodox
* * *
Despite wearing the underdog tag for this fight, Canelo will earn the bigger share of the fight purse as he has the more popular name in America and Mexico. Both Canelo and Triple GGG are guaranteed $15M each from the fight, but that does not include yet the share of the pay per view income that both fighters will receive. Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions estimate the fight could earn close to 1.5 million pay-per-view buys. Out of the $100M from pay-per-view buys, 60 per cent would be given to both fighters for them to share.
* * *
Golovkin described his bout with Alvarez as his "history fight." ?This fight with Canelo is important for boxing. It?s a true fight," said Golovkin at the final press conference. ?We?ve had the money show, now we have the history fight, the night when we find out who is the biggest champion, maybe the best pound-for pound fighter.? He said he had been waiting three years for this fight and wanted it for a very long time.
* * *
?I feel good and I am ready for anybody. I believe that on Saturday night I will show that I am the number one,? Alvarez was quoted by BoxingScene. ?Because of styles,? Alvarez said to reporters ?He has a very aggressive style. He comes to search and destroy. He comes in search of the knockout. You know me ? I don?t back down. I?m a counter-puncher, I like to fight and I think it?s a no-miss. Because of the styles, it has all the ingredients to be one of the best fights ever.?
* * *
The rematch clause in their contracts has a provision for Golovkin to give Alvarez a rematch if Golovkin wins. Alvarez, however, won?t be obliged to give Golovkin a rematch if he suceeds in their 12-round fight this Sarurday for Golovkin?s IBF, IBO, WBA and WBC middleweight titles.
* * *
Asked if he is willing to give GGG a rematch if he wins, Canelo says it all depends on the first fight. ?It all depends on how the first fight goes before we can talk about a second fight,? Alvarez said. ?But if the fans, if the people wanna see it, I have no problem to do it right away. Time restraints won?t be an issue.?
* * *
Gennady Golovkin is ranked as the world's No. 1 middleweight by BoxRec and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB), and No.2 by The Ring. He is also ranked as the world's No. 2 best active boxer pound for pound by The Ring and No. 5 by BoxRec and the TBRB.
* * *
Sa?l "Canelo" ?lvarez is a three-time world champion in two weight divisions, was once The Ring middleweight titlist since 2015. Previously he was two-time world light middleweight champion, holding the WBA (Unified), WBC, and Ring titles between 2011 and 2013, and the WBO belt from 2016 to 2017. At middleweight class he also reigned as WBC and lineal champion between 2015 and 2017.
* * *
Golovkin won the WBA interim middleweight title, by defeating Milton N??ez in 2010. He was elevated as WBA (Regular) champion in the same year, and in 2011 grabbed the vacant IBO middleweight title by defeating Lajuan Simon. In 2014, Golovkin was promoted as WBA (Super) champion and successfully defended both his titles against Daniel Geale.
* * *
Later GGG defeated Marco Antonio Rubio to annex the WBC interim middleweight title to his belt collection, and defeated David Lemieux in 2015 to win the IBF middleweight title. After Alvarez vacated his WBC middleweight title in 2016, Golovkin was elevated to full champion and now holds world titles by three of the four major boxing organizations.
* * *
Alvarez is ranked as the world's best active boxer, pound for pound, by BoxRec and No. 8 by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) and The Ring. He is also ranked as the world's No. 1 light middleweight by the TBRB and BoxRec, and ranked the best middleweight by The Ring and No. 2 by the TBRB.
* * *
Alvarez began boxing at 13 years old, inspired by his older brother Rigoberto Alvarez's debut as a professional boxer. In 2004 he won the silver medal at the Junior Mexican National championships. He became the 2005 Junior Mexican National Boxing Champion at the age of 15. Canelo has a very impressive amateur record of 44-2.
* * *
With 23 knockout wins that took place from November 22, 2008 to March 18, 2017, Golovkin holds the highest knockout percentage of 89.8% in middleweight championship history. In 2016, he won his 17th title defense by knockout, which equaled the record set by Wilfredo Gomez in 1982. Golovkin is considered to have one of the best chins in boxing, for he never tasted a knock down or knock out in a total of 387 fights, in the professional and amateur ranks.
* * *
In his amateur career, Golovkin won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 2003 World Championships at Bangkok, Thailand. He represented Kazakhstan at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and won a silver medal in the middleweight class.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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