Canelo Alvarez Defeats GGG in Rematch

Valerii Sokolnikov via Flickr

Boxing

Canelo Alvarez Defeats GGG to Claim Titles in Rematch

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez defeated Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin to become a triple champion, in a rematch from a year ago. In Alvarez’s victory, the number one middleweight in the world claimed Golovkin’s International Boxing Organization (IBO), World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) World Middleweight Championships. Alvarez won the fight on a majority decision from the judges, with two of the three favoring Alvarez by two points.

For Alvarez, he continues his streak of nine straight matches without a loss while also handing Golovkin his first career loss in 40 total fights. Golovkin entered the bout with a 38-0-1 record, with that one draw being his previous match versus Alvarez. On Sept. 17 of last year, Alvarez and GGG took battle in a match ruled a draw. This sparked outrage among many, mainly because GGG seemed to be the clear winner. Judge Don Trella scored the bout a draw while judge Dave Moretti favored Golovkin by two. The final judge, Adalaide Byrd, scored in favor of Alvarez by a surprising eight.

The lopsided score by Byrd resulted in the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to unofficially suspend Byrd from judging any more fights. Byrd has since returned to combat sports, judging fights during the recent UFC 222 event. Neither Joe Rogan nor Daniel Cormier, two UFC commentators, approved of Byrd’s return and involvement in the event.

More Canelo Controversy?

Not only was the landslide scoring an issue during the first fight between Alvarez and GGG, but tainted drug tests also circulated after the first bout. Alvarez failed back-to-back drug tests, resulting in the NSAC to suspend him for the minimum six-month punishment. Canelo claims he unknowingly took clenbuterol, a medicine for breathing disorders, blaming it on tainted meat he ate.

Alvarez provided documents in relation to his diet and the test, which was administered by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) in his home country of Mexico. Despite the fact nobody could prove Alvarez knowingly took the drug, his minimum suspension held. His suspension was actually reduced because he was a first time offender.

No Controversy This Time

Pending any drug tests that are revealed in the near future, there was no controversy in this fight. Two of the three judges favored Alvarez by two points. One of the judges that favored Canelo included Dave Moretti, who was the only judge to favor GGG in their last bout. Steve Weisfeld also favored Alvarez as Glenn Feldman scored the match a draw. With the two judges favoring Alvarez, Canelo won the bout.

Many feel the match was a draw, including our unofficial scorecard. However, Alvarez tallied more body punches, power punches and had a higher percent in punches landed than GGG. Alvarez dominated the body shot battle, tallying a total of 46 to just Golovkin’s six. Golovkin also threw 176 more punches than Alvarez, but only recorded 16 more landing when the final bell rang.

Perhaps the most telling stat of the bout was the number of power punches Alvarez landed from the sixth round on. Alvarez beat GGG in power punches every round from 6 on, with 12 being the fewest amount in round eight. Alvarez definitely played the role of aggressor in the fight’s second half, which is something judge Moretti favors heavily.

Did Canelo Really Win Though?

The short answer, yes. The only standout stat favoring GGG was the number of jabs Gennady hit. Golovkin never lost a round in terms of jabs landed, so the winner ultimately came down to what the judges favor more. As stated before, our unofficial scorecard was a draw. However, the fact Alvarez won has little-to-no controversy considering he won all the aggressive stats in the match. This bout felt more even than their first encounter, possibly triggering the surprise of so many when Alvarez was crowned victorious.

Despite how you feel about the match results, Golovkin didn’t do enough to win the bout. He left it up to the cloudy scoring of boxing’s officials, which is always at the center of discussions. We’re sure to see a rubber match between these two, as it has quickly become the most intriguing rivalry the sport has seen in quite some time.

 

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Photo Credit to Valerii Sokolnikov via Flickr