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Saul "Canelo" Alvarez won the majority on Saturday against Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, becoming the unified middleweight champion, including the WBA (Super), WBC, IBO and The Ring Magazine belts. It was a very close match, like the first, but many (this writer included) thought that Golovkin had clearly won.
Judge Daev Moretti scored 115-113 for Alvarez. Jude Glenn Feldman scored a draw 114-114. Judge Steve Weisfeld scored 115-113 for Alvarez, leading to the majority decision.
In the early rounds, Golovkin worked his jab well, but Alvarez was more consistent with harder shots. He saved Golovkin a few times, although "GGG" got his shots ahead as well, overtaking Alvarez with the left jab.
Golovkin began to weaken in the first round, but came back strong, supporting Alvarez during the final laps. Golovkin seemed to control well at least the last four rounds and some of the first ones. It was a very tight match and certainly one of the best fights of all time.
In the co-feature, the WBO junior middleweight title was on the line, and Jaime Munguia was the favorite by a wide wide margin. And for a good reason. Brandon Cook got good shots in the second round, but Munguia's attack was too much for him, as he was eliminated in the third round. Specifically, the referee stopped the match early and saved Cook from wild hooks that Munguia was shooting.
Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez took a rather slow start at the opening match, but picked up the pace on each lap before stopping Moises Fuentes in the fifth round. The follow-up match was a shock, as David Lemieux dropped Gary O'Sullivan in the first round with a brutal left hook.
The rematch was originally set for May 5, but was postponed when Alvarez was suspended for a positive anti-doping test. Alvarez cooperated with officials, but said the positive test was due to contaminated meat. Anyway, Golovkin continued to fight (and beat) another opponent on that date, and the revenge was set for Saturday.
Below you can see the full blog live in the reverse order.
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez def. Gennady "GGG" Golovkin by majority decision
Round 12: In Fina's turn and at least on my card, Alvarez needs a helping hand. Large left hook of Golovkin, then two hard jabs. Golovkin's uppercut right gives way to Alvarez. Alvarez slips briefly. They tie and are separated. Body hook by Golovkin. The left hook of Alvarez connects, but Golovkin also has his own hook. The short and hard right hand of Alvarez comes first. They exchange uppercuts. More jabs and hooks are exchanged at the end and they kiss at the bell! Wow! That's Golovkin on my map, but wow!
Round 11: Alvarez is doing a lot of backup to start this round. He grabs Alvarez against the ropes and then makes two big hits. Alvarez is still, eating several big shots above the head, including a right hook. Alvarez has a hook that is doing damage – he's not finished yet. Golovkin now blocks body shots, a crucial element of this fight. They slow down a little more. Golovkin hard left hook. Right body shot from Alvarez. Right hook of Alvarez. Small combo of Golovkin lands. The first half of this round was GGG, the second was Alvarez's.
Round 10: Golovkin seems faster now, despite Alvarez's corner assuring him that Golovkin has nothing left. Two very hard hooks of Golovkin, then he follows with a huge combo, three, four, five punches on a turtle Alvarez. But Alvarez comes back after getting away from the ropes and takes down a nice hook and a good body shot. Another body was shot down by Alvarez, but Golovkin reacted with another wave, slamming Alvarez's head with a series of strokes. Another big Golovkin round, at least on my map.
Round 9: Alvarez finally shows signs of wear and damage. Two hard body shots from Alvarez to start, however. Rigid jab, left hook of Golovkin. Alvarez connects with a hook while Golovkin takes a deep breath, then the same thing happens in the other direction. Alvare misses a hook to the body, but passes his right hand through the guard of Golovkin. Large left hook of Golovkin. Alvarez complains of a potential head shot. Golovkin steps forward even more, throwing big combos, and Alvarez easily loses this trick.
Round 8: Golovkin's corner tells him that he is losing between turns. Right hook of Golovkin, then that of Alvarez. The short straight hook lands for Golovkin as he bends down under Alvarez. More Golovkin jabs. Alvarez starts to back up now, but he picks up a left hook. Golovkin's Big Jab gives up the lead to Alvarez, then a one-two combo ended with a right hook. It was a Golovkin round … probably.
Round 7: Golovkin comes out a little faster in this round, but he eats two big shots early. The jab, still present, continues to land for him. Golovkin throws a blow every second. Midway through this round, and not a lot of action. They both slowed down a bit. Hard Uppercut of Golovkin, but a hard hook of Alvarez follows him. Another close friend! I would probably call it a draw.
Round 6: Jab left Golovkin continues. Alvarez continues to show up, even through the jabs. Alvarez is absorbing a lot of damage, but Golovkin is clearly frustrated that the man he is fighting controls the pace. The two exchange uppercuts. Right hook from Golovkin lands. Another good body shot from Alvarez. Golovkin yields his head to Alvarez with a hard jab. It's a great fight!
Round 5: Golovkin avoids an uppercut and connects to two hard jabs. Alvarez seems to have a cut near his right eye. Jab, hook, Golovkin uppercut combo is good, but he eats a hard hook of Alvarez. Golovkin avoids going out of a hook. Big jab of Alvarez. Golovkin takes deep breaths here, Alvarez's body shots have to slow him down. Golovkin, meanwhile, has only thrown a handful of blows on the body. The round ends with a nice Golovkin jab combo.
Round 4: The bad defeat of Uppercut d'Alvarez almost makes Golovkin go wild, but he departs from it. They are both blows much faster than what I can type now. Golovkin connects with a hard uppercut. Alvarez misses a point, then draws a good body shot. Golovkin has to unload some – and he hits one just after typing that. A minute to go around. Four fast gabs of Golovkin land all, then one of Alvarez connects too. Big body shot of Alvarez. Extremely tight, maybe Alvarez
Round 3: Alvarez slides a jab left through the guard, and Golovkin connects with an uppercut in response. Golovkin has damage near his right eye, but he is not bleeding yet. Golovkin continues to throw the jab, then a hook to the right, but Alvarez responds with a left hook and a big jab of himself. The left hook is missing for Golovkin, then he lands, while he dodges under a big hook of Alvarez. Another very tight round – Alvarez is reaching the hardest shots, it seems, but Golovkin is doing his job. I think it's Golovkin 2-1 right now.
2nd round: Golovkin eats two left hands from Alvarez, but he shakes him and lands a good shot. Right now, it's just a battle of blows. Uppercut short of Golovkin grazes. Golovkin avoids the head in a left uppercut of Alvarez. Alvarez is loosening here. Big body shot of Alvarez. A hard body shot from Alvarez, followed by a nice two-one-three atop Golovkin. Alvarez is missing with a winged left hook. Golovkin's Jabs at the end of the round. This one was probably Alvarez's turn.
Tour 1: The two fighters rush to the center of the ring to launch Golovkin. Two more Golovkin strokes after a Canelo hook are blocked. Canelo's left hook passes through Golovkin's guard. Golovkin starts much stronger than in the first fight. Two more shots remained to him, but he eats one of Alvarez. Alvarez lands a short left jab. Body shot Alvarez grazes Golovkin. Golovkin gives Alvarez a header with a blow, and the round is over. It was probably a GGG ride.
Jaime Munguia def. Brandon Cook via TKO at 1:03 of the third lap
Round 3: Cook comes back again with hard body shots. Large. But he is caught by a hook of Munguia and it is a reversal. Cook goes down, but goes through the permanent account. They start again and Munguia is still alive. A brutal body shot causes the cooks to torture against the ropes and after a few punches, the referee stops the fight. Munguia was throwing absolutely brutal hooks to the body! What show!
2nd round: Cook knows he has to come out strong, and he does it in the second round, throwing big combos and briefly facing Munguia. The good uppercut of Munguia grazes and pushes Cook. Big overhand right of Cook misses. Munguia wants to go back to Cook, but he knows the power is there and he does not want to be the only one to get a punch, which seems to be popular tonight. Short to the right of Cook's land. And again, with 10 seconds to go around, Munguia begins to unload with a series of solid hooks. Cook landed a body shot near the end which was pretty good. In fact, a tight round, but probably Munguia.
Tour 1: We start slowly this round, with Munguia waiting for Cook to commit, but Cook is not interested. A couple left the lands of Munguia, then a left missed and he eats a pair of jabs Cook. A hard body shot from Munguia, and he eats one of Cook just after. Big hook with the body of Munguia. He has Cook against the ropes and Munguia starts to play. Munguia is warned of blows to the head. At the end of the first round, Munguia pulls several hard hooks and all Cook can do is the turtle up to the bell.
David Lemieux def. Gary O'Sullivan via KO at 2:44 of the first round
Round 1: Lemiux comes out more aggressive to start first, working the body early, but he eats a couple of O'Sullivan's left jabs. Good hard body pulled Lemieux, then another. O'Sullivan's strong jab. Left hook of Lemieux and O'Sullivan is down! He is down and the referee stops this fight! O'Sullivan did not come out as such but it is clearly out of the question. Wow!
Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez def. Moises Fuentes via KO at 1:44 of the fifth inning
Round 5: Even more things here to start, with Chocolatito landing a beautiful burst and BOOM, a huge punch! Fuentes is down and he does not get up! It was a short left hook followed by a large right hand.
Round 4: Chocolatito is probably up three rounds here, but 2-1 at worst. Fuentes throws hooks in the fourth and draws a nice body shot. It also connects with a strong left hook. The problem is that between these two good moves, he ate about six of Chocolatito. Bon appetite of Chocolatito with Fuentes against the ropes. The left hand of Chocolatito hits hard. Another round for him, although Fuentes seemed better here than in the second and third.
Round 3: Chocolatito rolls here early, fleeing Fuentes with hard knocks and sneaky hooks. He gathers several combinations to two and three, and takes another decisive turn.
2nd round: Fuentes comes out more aggressive, pulling a strong hook that Chocolatito hardly manages to eliminate. Chocolatito returns with a hard body shot, then a short left hook and Fuentes has a cut near his right eye. Harder shots of Chocolatito, which had the support of Fuentes. Strong body drawn from Chocolatito, then right to the body of Fuentes. The left hook runs again for Chocolatito, and Fuentes struggles to align the shots. The end of the round – it should be Chocolatito.
Tour 1: And we are on the way! Chocolatito works a few early shots and gets Fuentes against the ropes, but they go away. Fuentes, much taller, has some good jabs of his own, but the beginning is slow and fairly regular.
The revenge is finally here. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gennady "GGG" Golovkin will face Saturday night in a la carte card for just about all the middleweight titles that matter. Their first match was a controversial draw, not because the fight was not close, but because a judge, Adalaide Byrd, had a very different card from the other two judges.
Saturday card starts at 8 pm ET on HBO pay-per-view (live streaming via FITE.tv,RingTV). The first fight was close enough to justify a draw, but the map 118-110 transmitted by Byrd was widely criticized after the fight. We will have a live blog and the highlights of the entire map, here, from 8pm.
Golovkin is considered the best pound-to-pound fighter in the world, but he needs a decisive win over Alvarez. They had originally scheduled a rematch on May 5, but Alvarez was seen inflicting a six-month suspension for a positive anti-doping test, attributed to Mexico's contaminated meat.
The WBA (Super), WBC and IBO middleweight titles are currently held by a Golovkin and will be on the line, as well as The Ring Magazine's middleweight strap. The IBF title was pulled from Golovkin because of not facing the mandatory challenger, Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Saturday's card will also feature a middleweight WBO title contest between champion Jaime Munguia and Brandon Cook. The map will open with a fight between the super-bouncy super-flies Roman Gonzalez and Moises Fuentes, followed by a middleweight fight between David Lemieux and Gary O'Sullivan.
How to watch Canelo vs GGG II
Time: 8 pm ET
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
TV: Pay-per-view (HBO)
Streaming Online: FITE.tv, RingTV
Canelo vs. Vs Battle Card GGG II
Average weight: Saul "Canelo" Alvarez def. Gennady "GGG" Golovkin by majority decision
Junior middleweight: Jaime Munguia def. Brandon Cook via TKO at 1:03 of the third lap
Average weight: David Lemieux def. Gary O'Sullivan via KO at 2:44 of the first round
Junior bantam weight: Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez def. Moises Fuentes via KO at 1:44 of the fifth inning
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