Triple G Now Has A Single L
After a 90 minute delay caused by a handful of lopsided undercard matchups that didn’t go anywhere near the distance, we witnessed a honey of a fight tonight in GGG v Canelo Part 2.
For me, it was just too close of a fight to argue that decision… But people will argue anyway. I had it a draw, but judges had it 115-113, 115-113, and 114-114 for the winner by majority decision and the new middleweight champion of the world- Canelo Alvarez.
For those of you who bet Canelo after you read the last line of my preview on Friday that said, “I like Canelo Alvarez as an underdog (+125)”… You’re welcome.
GGG didn’t stay in the ring for a post-fight interview, and Canelo gave a less-than-excited response about a possible third fight… Or at least I think he did. Canelo still talks with an interpreter, who I really don’t trust.
I think sometimes the interpreter will interpret, “I want to thank both God and my wife for staying by my side.”, when in actuality Alvarez is saying, “Kill Whitey!”
Canelo was the aggressor for 10 of 12 rounds, and landed more power hands and body shots.
GGG threw twice as many jabs, but the way Canelo just ate them and kept coming forward must’ve impressed the hell out of the judges. Either that, or they listened to Max Kellerman on the apron absolutely BLOW Alvarez every opportunity he got. After one diatribe where Max fawned over Canelo like a schoolgirl, I thought I heard Roy Jones Jr mumble, “Get a room.”
Statistically, the fight was close in terms of landed shots. According to CompuBox, Alvarez landed 202 of 622 punches (33 percent), and Golovkin landed 234 of 879 (27 percent). Golovkin outlanded Alvarez in eight of the 12 rounds by basically keeping him at the end of his jabs.
You can tell by this graphic that Golovkin’s favorite target was the left side of Alvarez’s face, where GGG eventually opened a vagina-sized cut over Canelo’s left eye that surprisingly never became an issue.
The DRAW decision in the first fight seemed dirty, and people will question whether boxing leaned the scales towards Alvarez in this bout because Canelo is a 28 year old fighter who can continue to be the face of the middleweight division going forward. Meanwhile Golovkin is a 38 year old warrior who ends a historic title reign at a record 20 defenses, which he shares with Bernard Hopkins (who just so happens to be one of Alvarez’s promoters). But Gennady knew there was a bias coming into the rematch, and he needed to do more in order to stop the optics of having this young buck constantly pursue him around the ring, no matter how many jabs or straight right hands he threw across his nose.
If it was close, then Alvarez was winning, and it was close.
And for all the fans of concussions out there who have been frustrated by the NFL’s new anti-targeting protocol, you really got your money’s worth tonight… More blows to the face than a Kardashian honeymoon.
Great fight… Good night… Take a report.
-Large