It’s the fight boxing fans have been waiting months for Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin stage a rematch of their controversial draw from last year. They do battle Saturday night on pay-per-view from Las Vegas for Golovkin’s WBA/WBC middleweight titles. Golovkin comes in as the boxing odds favorite.
Between the knowledge of facing Alvarez the first time and the incentive of beating a man who he thinks is a cheater is a great deal of motivation for GGG. The fallout from Alvarez’s suspension also enabled Golovkin to sweeten his purse for the rematch.
“This is the biggest fight of my boxing career because of the time for me … maybe I won’t have a bigger chance in the next few years than I have right now,” Golovkin said. “He’s a huge name, this is a huge situation and I believe whoever wins is the pound-for-pound champion. So much attention, so many sponsors, so many people watching this fight — I like this.”
Alvarez (49-1-2) will be more aggressive and take his opportunities against Golovkin, says Don Chargin, the Hall of Fame promoter who spotted the Mexican and brought him to America.
Canelo vs Golovkin 2 Odds & Expert Prediction
Boxing isn’t just a sport. It´s my craft. Thank you @HennessyUS for being my partner #caneloggg2 pic.twitter.com/yEg1MBqu6t
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) 8 de septiembre de 2018
- When: Saturday, September 15th
- Where: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)
- Live Stream: FITE TV
- Boxing Odds: Canelo Alvarez +135 / Gennady Golovkin -160
Re-scheduled
These two were supposed to have their rematch in May but Alvarez tested positive for a banned substance. Alvarez was given a six-month suspension instead of the standard one year for first-time violators. Alvarez blamed contaminated beef in Mexico for his positive test and vowed to plead his case before the commission. But with Alvarez suspended because of the positive test and so little time between the hearing and the fight promoters decided to cancel the bout in May. Golovkin did fight on that scheduled date, beating an overmatched Vanes Martirosyan by second-round knockout. As Martirosyan was on his way down in Round 2, he was hit with a hard right hook on the moment his left knee made contact with the canvas. Time was 1:53. It was Golovkin’s 20th title fight where he successfully defended a minimum of one major belt. That equaled Bernard Hopkins record of 20 successful middleweight title defenses. However, Golovkin’s first five defenses were with Felix Sturm as super champion above him in the WBA. From October 2012, Golovkin has been the undisputed WBA champ and since then he has defended the top title 15 times.