Triple G vs. Canelo Alvarez II: The Counter-Puncher Strikes Back

After being robbed of a career defining win almost a year ago, Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin (GGG) got another shot at Canelo Alvarez on September 15 at the T-Mobile Arena in the biggest middleweight bout in recent history. With the controversial decision judging the contest a draw in the last fight, boxing fans around the world were looking forward to having a definite winner, especially after their big Cinco De Mayo rematch was canceled when Alvarez tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, which he blamed on Mexican beef. Most people would agree that Triple G won the last fight decisively, but questionable judging on behalf of Adelaide Byrd left the undefeated pound for pound great with a blemish on his record, one he wanted to erase with a definite victory over his new rival.

In the sport of boxing, one year is a very long time for an aging fighter. Triple G dominated Alvarez for the majority of their first fight at the age of 35, but that one year difference was evident from the start bell. In the first fight, Golovkin looked like the boogeyman of the middleweight division, knocking anything with a pulse. He stalked Alvarez the entire fight, always maintained the pressure, and made Alvarez uncomfortable on the back foot.

But to Alvarez’s credit, he made adjustments in the second fight and took advantage of a now aging Golovkin. This time, it was the explosive Mexican counter-puncher (Alvarez) aggressively stalking the Kazakh knockout artist (Golovkin). Prior to this fight, GGG had never had to fight off the back foot. As a knockout artist, being forced into a defensive counter-punching position for the first time in his career, Golovkin looked uncomfortable, unconfident, and old for the first time in his career.

B​y stalking Triple G the entire fight, Alvarez was thus controlling the flow of the fight. Even though Triple G wasn’t in his prime position, however, he was still consistently landing the jab and a few big shots. But in the eyes of the judges, Alvarez was controlling the tempo, forcing the action, and forcing Triple G to adapt to him, easily portraying himself as the more confident and in-control fighter. After the first fight, he understood that he couldn’t stand in a counter-punching stance and allow someone as dangerous as Triple G to pick his shots. Having made that massive change in mentality and some filthy body shots, Alvarez won the greater part of the first six rounds of the fight but was kept in check by Golovkin’s jab and quick combos.

Even though Alvarez seemed to be in control of the fight, as the old saying goes, “It only takes one shot.” In this case, it wasn’t a knockout for Triple G, but a few big shots that rocked Alvarez in the middle rounds that helped Golovkin regain some of his confidence. He began to stuff out some of Alvarez’s forward pressure and countered it with some of his own. More importantly, just like Alvarez had played Golovkin’s game against him in the earlier rounds, Golovkin began counter-punching the best counter-puncher in boxing. In rounds eight through 11, Golovkin landed some big shots that had Alvarez shaking and leaning against the ropes. They were shots that would have put any other fighter to sleep, but not the steel chinned Alvarez. Alvarez weathered the storm, took the shots, and threw back some of his own in addition to working the body to steal a few of those late rounds from a dangerous looking Golovkin.

The last round was the climax of the entire fight that the year prior led up to for so long. The two fighters came out throwing haymakers, neither one looking to leave the fight in the hands of the judges. Every big shot Golovkin landed, Alvarez took on the chin and gave back one of his own. In the end, neither last effort was enough to knock the other out. It was a shame this instant classic had to come to decision once again, but unlike when it went to decision last, neither fighter truly deserved to lose this fight. Ultimately, the judges submitted their scorecards, and Alvarez was announced the new middleweight champion by way of majority decision. Two judges scored it 115-113 in his favor while another judged it a 114-114 draw.

In all honesty, Golovkin landed the bigger shots, landed the jab consistently, dealt more overall damage, and deserved to win the fight once again. But to his credit, Alvarez did what he had to do to get his hand raised in the eyes of the judges. Alvarez controlled the narrative of the fight and looked like the more aggressive and dangerous fighter. Even when he took the big shots, he looked resilient while getting tagged by one the greatest knockout artists in history. Golovkin threw and landed more shots, but statistics don’t win fights.