MOST MEDIA FAVOR GOLOVKIN; CANELO AND GGG YES TO A THIRD MATCH
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 18 Sep 2018
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez won the unified middleweight title by the slimmest margins during Saturday night championship rematch, winning by just a majority decision over arch rival Gennady "GGG" Golovkin and gave the Kazakh champion his first professional defeat.
The two fighters switched roles, with Triple G trying to counter Alvarez and the Mexican fighter coming forward much of the fight. Both boxers connected punches exhaustively and Golovkin was effective with his jabs in some rounds. There were no signs of getting a knockdown.
Alvarez is now 50-1-2 with 34 KOs while Golovkin slipped to 38-1-1 with 34 KOs.
"He's a great fighter but I'm a great fighter and I showed it tonight," said a conceited Alvarez.
The fighting roles of the two stars were reversed from their first encounter, as Alvarez was more aggressive this time and Golovkin kept countering in most of the rounds.
The fight was a rematch of a draw last September of last year that saw both fighters unsatisfied. This time it was Golovkin's turn to get disgusted, and he left the ring without answering an interview.
"I can't complain, that's what we have the judges for," said Abel Sanchez, Golovkin's trainer.
Compubox punchstats revealed that it was really a close fight. Golovkin was ahead in landing 234 punches while Alvarez landed 203. Canelo however had the advantage in power punches connecting 143 as against Golovkin's 116.
Golovkin said he thought he fought better in his first interview after the fight in his dressing room.
"I'm not going to say who won tonight because the victory belongs to Canelo according to the judges," GGG said from his dressing room. "I thought it was a very good fight for the fans and very exciting. I thought I fought better than he did."
Compubox Punchstats
Total Punches Landed/Thrown (Percentage)
Alvarez - 202/622 (32.5%)
Golovkin - 234/878 (26.6%)
Total Jabs Landed/Thrown (Percentage)
Alvarez - 59/256 (23%)
Golovkin - 118/547 (21.6%)
Total Power Punches Landed/Thrown (Percentage)
Alvarez - 143/366 (39.1%)
Golovkin - 116/332 (34.9%)
When GGG was asked about another rematch he gave his affirmative reply. "Under the right conditions, yes," he said.
Suddenly the news of an immediate third fight between the two superstar middleweights circulated the boxing media.
"If the people want us to do it again let's do it again," Alvarez said. "For now I'm going to enjoy it with my family."
GGG has the right to feel he won and has the right to a rematch. According to mmadecisions.com, of the 19 media outlets scoring the bout, 10 ruled in favor of Golovkin, 8 scored a draw, while 1 scored bout for Alvarez.
Media Scores
Pedro Carneiro of MMABrasil.com.br, 115-113 for Alvarez
Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, 114-114 Draw
Associated Press, 114-114 Draw
LA Times, 114-114 Draw
Wil Esco of BadLeftHook.com, 114-114 Draw
Khadrice Rollins of si.com, 114-114 Draw
Tony Fagnano of MMA-Today.com, 114-114 Draw
Alexander K. Lee of MMAFighting.com, 114-114 Draw
Phil Murphy of ESPN, 114-114 Draw
MMAMania.com, 115-116 for Golovkin
Mookie Alexander of BloodyElbow.com, 113-115 for Golovkin
Chris Mannix of Yahoo! Sports, 113-115 for Golovkin
Se?n Sheehan of SevereMMA.com, 113-115 for Golovkin
Brian Campbell of CBSSports.com, 112-116 Golovkin
The Guardian, 112-116 for Golovkin
Nathan McCarter of BleacherReport.com, 112-116 for Golovkin
Harold Lederman of HBO, 112-116 for Golovkin
Wesley Riddle of MMASucka.com, 112-116 for Golovkin
Andreas Hale of Sporting News, 112-116 for Golovkin
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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