Well, the boxing community was hoping for a great fight but had to settle for a good fight. Middleweight Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez gave us a valiant effort in a 12 round bout with a lot of action.
It was not the bloodbath I thought it may have been but both fighters threw meaningful punches and showed terrific chins. Golovkin pushed the action most of the night with his jab keeping Alvarez (who landed his own sharp counters) on the ropes in what appeared to be a competitive but clear victory for the Kazakh warrior.
GGG is definitely showing his age; he is no longer the wrecking machine he was two years ago when he was the most avoided man in sports. But he deserved better than the draw he was dealt by inept/corrupt judging.
I had the fight 118-110 (10 rounds to 2) for Golovkin. That score doesn’t mean the fight was one-sided. I admit I am a GGG fan, but I try to score as objectively as possible.
As I have said in prior articles, I favor the champ in rounds that could go either way. If you want to be as generous to the Mexican stalwart as possible you could give him four rounds which would match HBO’s unofficial scorer, Harold Lederman’s 116-112 in GGG’s favor.
I was worried about the judges all week. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has a horse in this race as Canelo is the new cash cow in the post-Mayweather/Pacquiao era.
Leading up to the decision, everyone I was watching with felt Golovkin won the fight. A knowledgeable friend of mine text me that he felt a robbery coming. Maybe it was because of HBO’s commentators who seemed to be enamored with anything Alvarez did.
When Adelaide Byrd’s score of 118-110 was read by Michael Buffer I felt a very brief feeling of relief until he said the score was for Canelo. The entire room was disgusted.
Dave Moretti had it 115-113 for GGG. Too close for my taste but at least he had the winner correct.
Then Buffer announced Don Trella’s inept/corrupt score of 114-114 leaving us with a draw. One of my guests for the fight said this is why he no longer watches boxing which he said almost had him back.
I will always watch. I love the fighters as much as I despise the way the sport is run. However, how can I possibly argue with my friend who represents the casual fan?
Teddy Atlas (one of the few at ESPN who has integrity) blew a gasket after the fight. He rightfully pointed out that both combatants left a piece of themselves in that ring that they will never get back, and GGG was screwed along with the fans.
The reason we love fighters is they do things and face things that the common man avoids. This is why Rocky Balboa became a fictional American icon across generations.
Go back to your younger days. Maybe you were meeting someone after school or outside a bar to physically settle a disagreement.
Now be honest with yourself; it’s okay. Going into that situation you faced feelings of apprehension. You faced dark moments of self doubt even if you were confident that you could/would come out on top.
Now imagine doing that for a living in your underwear in front of thousands or millions of people. Scary right? These guys experience all the emotions us everyday mutts face.
But they overcome it and perform on an elite level. That’s what makes them extraordinary.
In Gennady Golovkin’s case he has done everything right. He has given us action; he has given us the knockouts we want to see.
Nobody with name recognition would get near this guy, so he kept going about his knockout business. As far as we know, he conducts himself like a gentleman outside the ring.
He finally gets his big moment at age 35. Though he’s not quite the same, he rises to the occasion and wins clearly. Then these minions steal it from him.
“Oh but maybe we get a rematch”. The fight was good enough to justify a rematch anyway. But by that time Canelo is 28 and GGG is 36.
You can make the argument that GGG left a bigger piece of himself in that ring on Saturday than Canelo did. Canelo can still improve at his age. GGG is never getting any better; if anything he is regressing with every fight and brutal training camp.
If GGG doesn’t win the rematch (legitimately or illegitimately) it completely changes how history will view him. I can’t put him quite on the level of the all-time middleweights like Sugar Ray Robinson (best fighter ever), Carlos Monzon or Marvin Hagler.
I also think Bernard Hopkins in his prime would best a prime GGG as Golovkin’s style plays right into Hopkins’. But this guy was way better than he may ever get credit for down the road.
When people are laying their lives on the line, bad calls in boxing are more dire than in team sports. And they are becoming commonplace in this sport.
Since this blog began in Octorber, 2016 Sergey Kovalev (first fight with Andre Ward), Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (first fight with Srisket Sor Rungvisai), Manny Pacquiao (against Jeff Horn in his home Australia) and Golovkin have all been the victims of poor decisions.
These are all guys who were ranked in the top ten pond-for-pound this year. Imagine how poorly the pug brought in to lose to a local boy at a club show, but doesn’t cooperate gets treated on a regular basis?
As Satan’s hour goes along, honesty becomes harder and harder to come by. Whether it’s politics, sports or just everyday life honest people must always be on guard for systemic dishonesty. Talk soon.
-Marksman