Last September, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin put on an epic fight with wild swings in momentum and drama on the scorecards. While the fight itself was a masterpiece, the controversy surrounding the resulting split draw and puzzling 118-110 nod for Canelo left a dark cloud over an otherwise stellar showing from both men. It was a tough act to follow.
Somehow, the two most popular and dominant men in the middleweight division returned to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and found a way to match — if not exceed — the action of their previous affair. However, this time the judges decided on a clear winner as “Canelo” defeated “GGG” by majority decision to take the WBC, WBA, and IBO middleweight titles. Judges Dave Morietti and Steve Weisfeld scored it 115-113 for the new champion, while Glenn Feldman saw it as a draw.
Both men had their moments throughout as narrow margins decided the early feeler rounds. As the action picked up, the scoring was just as difficult with Canelo’s steady body work playing against the reliable jab that Golovkin seemed to land at will.
Wild exchanges put an exclamation point on the end of multiple rounds and left the officials with even more conflicting information to comprehend.
Canelo’s victory is his first since winning a unanimous nod against Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr. in May 2017. This was the first loss for Golovkin, with his only other blemish being the aforementioned draw last fall.
After the fight, Canelo declared that he is open to a trilogy with Golovkin. “GGG” left the ring and did not give the customary post-fight interview to HBO Boxing analyst Max Kellerman.
The pair was originally scheduled to rematch on May 5 until a pair of alleged positive tests for clenbuterol lead to Golden Boy Promotions withdrawing Canelo from the fight.