Three months ahead of their September 16th bout, Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin are holding nothing back. Canelo, especially, has taken the press tour by storm, throwing down the gauntlet for GGG, and stating that he will be the better fighter in Las Vegas.
“This is my biggest moment, so obviously what I want to do is leave no doubt in this fight,” Canelo told BoxingScene.com, adding that he doesn’t see a need for a rematch. “There just has to be one. I want to make it clear that I am better than him and there will be no need for another fight,” said the 26-year-old Mexican redhead.
Golovkin will enter the epic September 16th bout in Las Vegas as the favorite, sporting an undefeated 37-0 record including 33 knockouts, with the WBC, WBA, IBF and IBO championship belts to further state his dominance. For his part, Canelo will come into the fight with his own impressive record of 49-1-1, including 34 KOs.
This clash has been a long time coming, and fight promoter Oscar De La Hoya feels that the timing is finally right for the showdown. “The timing could not be better,” said De La Hoya. “Canelo is a full middleweight and Golovkin is undefeated at middleweight. This fight has been planned perfectly at the best of times.”
GGG’s last fight was his first that went to 12 rounds, and he appeared to have lost a step. De La Hoya thought that Golovkin’s opponent on that night, Danny Jacobs, missed out on a golden opportunity to hand the 35-year-old his first loss. “I think Jacobs gave him a lot of respect in the first two rounds and if he had started earlier and had not respected him so much, he would have won by unanimous decision,” De La Hoya said.
There’s no doubt that Canelo and GGG are the two best middleweights in boxing, and the winner could have an argument as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. “It’s gonna be a tough fight and (my team) is aware of this but people wanted to see this fight and that’s why we made it happen, to delight the fans,” said Canelo.
GGG is taking a more pensive and retrospective approach to promoting this fight, stating that he has contemplated retirement. “I don’t know. Maybe after this fight I’m finished, maybe not. I feel very good. I’m 35 but I feel like I’m 25. But this is boxing, not soccer, it’s not a game, this is a fight and every fight is very difficult,” the IBF champion stated.
Unlike Canelo, he did not play down the possibility of rematches: “I think there could be three fights, I’m ready, I want. I believe it is possible. I think it’s the best fight for boxing.”