Friday, March 29, 2024  |

News

Aficianado

Canelo Alvarez: There won’t be need for Golovkin rematch

Fighters Network
21
Jun

NEW YORK – Ain’t gonna be no rematch.

Those are the words Apollo Creed delivered to Rocky Balboa at the end of the iconic first film, but also the message delivered by Canelo Alvarez to Gennady Golovkin, in so many words.

There won’t be a need for a second meeting, Canelo said in Spanish with Golden Boy President Eric Gomez translating, because September 16 will be conclusive: the Mexican icon will prove he’s no doubt the better fighter.

That’s Canelo’s plan for the HBO pay-per-view from Las Vegas, even if promoters Golden Boy and K2 (who handle GGG) surely hope for a trilogy in what figures to be a money-making bonanza.



No, Canelo (49-1-1, 34 knockouts) is coming to knock Golovkin out.

“That’s what I want; I want to make it clear that I’m better than him,” said Canelo, who donned a white shirt and dark vest/tie combination as he fielded questions from a couch. “I want to make it very clear – no controversy, nothing – I’m better than him and there’s no need for another fight.”

It’s not personal. Both fighters expressed respect and admiration for each other during separate media roundtables Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Rather, it’s the pent-up competitiveness of a matchup three years in the making. A bout to settle not just middleweight supremacy, but also establish who figures to carry the sport going forward.

That role will certainly fall to Canelo, should he be successful and deliver on his promise this fall.

After all, the 26-year-old boxer-puncher is already boxing’s biggest draw after generating north of 1 million pay-per-view buys for his May mismatch against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. With his good looks and red hair that resemble more Irish than Mexican, Canelo certainly possesses the characteristics to carry boxing’s torch as its standard bearer.

Now he just needs the signature win.

“I’m ready to fight. It’s coming,” Canelo exclaimed. “There’s times I don’t feel anything because it’s part of the promotion and redundant, but for this one, I do feel adrenaline.”

As he should.

Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), who owns the highest knockout percentage in middleweight championship history, figures to be the second-toughest challenge of Alvarez’s career. The first, naturally, belongs to the stylings of Floyd Mayweather Jr., who easily defeated a greener-than-grass Canelo, who was just 23 at the time.

Four years later, he looks like a transformed fighter – faster, two-handed, more patient.

“I’m more confident now, I have more experience,” he said. “That fight motivated me, and I think that more than anything, instead of deterring me, it motivated me to become a more complete fighter.”

And the silly claim that’s been tossed around, one that says GGG let Kell Brook and Daniel Jacobs land damaging blows to look vulnerable and entice Alvarez into a fight?

“I don’t believe it, I don’t buy it,” he said, “but if he says so, hopefully he tries it with me.”

That, of course, would be foolhardy.

If that happens, then there really won’t be any necessity for a second encounter. It’ll be clear as day.

Mike Coppinger is the Senior Writer for RingTV.com. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeCoppinger

SIGN UP TO GET RING NEWS ALERTS