Culture & Sports
2018.09.16 16:46 GMT+8

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez defeats Gennady Golovkin in their rematch to become world middleweight champion

Li Chenqi

The best middleweight boxer of the generation has finally been defined as "Canelo vs GGG 2" took place at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. 28-year-old Mexican Saul Alvarez (50-2-1, 34 KOs) grabbed the WBC/WBA world middleweight champion belts from the 36-year-old Kazakh, Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin (38-0-1, 34KOs). 

This bout was the rematch of their controversial split decision draw just one year ago, and it was both action-packed and even a little bloody, but the majority decision win - scored 114-114, 115-113, 115-113 - for Alvarez is just as unconvincing as their draw in the previous fight for fans of the formerly unbeaten Golovkin. 

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (R) punches Gennady Golovkin (L) during their WBC/WBA middleweight title fight at T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. /VCG Photo

According to the statistics published on CompuBox Punch Stats, Alvarez landed more power punches than Golovkin this time, and the elder side still lost in accuracy. Furthermore, Golovkin was apparently not that aggressive as before.

Alvarez changed himself totally to prepare for this fight – he no longer fled to the ropes and dominated the center of ring for the whole 12 rounds. In contrast, Golovkin strengthened his defending and blocked and drew away more.

For most of the first half, Alvarez waited for Golovkin to land several feelers and then returned with stinging jabs at the right time. And on the other hand, Golovkin made more body feints than usual, but still turned Alvarez's face bloody with a wound under his left eyebrow in the fourth round.

After that, Golovkin concentrated more on attacking this weak spot and made the wound longer and deeper throughout the rest of the fight. However, he also got his lower eyelids blacked in rounds seven and eight, and ended up with a similar wound at the side of his right eyebrow in the last round.

Rather than keeping his distance, Alvarez, who was noticeably thinner than last year, dared to lean on his opponent and hunt for more heavy hook opportunities. His resistance in this fight was borderline inhuman.

Gennady Golovkin and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez hug following their WBC/WBA middleweight title fight at T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. /VCG Photo

"It was a very tight fight but I did it, I showed my victory with facts," Alvarez said after the match, however, Golovkin refused to be interviewed in the ring and left the hall directly.

The two never-say-die Mexican-style boxers didn't let down the millions of spectators for this rematch. They have been bitter rivals during their careers, and this marquee event has already been written into boxing history. In the near future, "Canelo" – the redheaded boy – Alvarez will be the flag-bearer of middleweight class, and "Triple G" Golovkin will be permanently considered a legend of his generation.

(Top image: Saul "Canelo" Alvarez poses with the Championship Belts after his majority decision win against Gennady Golovkin during their WBC/WBA middleweight title fight at T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. /VCG Photo)

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