On Saturday evening, Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin touch gloves inside the ring for the third and perhaps final time at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas live on DAZN PPV in the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand as well as around the world on DAZN (except Mexico, Kazakhstan and Latin America; check your region for availability).
The road to get two of the top fighters in our era back into the squared circle has been long. It's been to the point where it was very questionable Canelo and GGG would ever get to Saturday and meet for the undisputed super middleweight championship.
People wanted to see a third fight in the worst way after two exciting fights in September 2017 and September 2018. You have some that say Golovkin won both, and they can be adamant about it. They could bring up great examples of that. Or they could say it’s one apiece but you'll never hear anybody say Canelo won both.
Despite the clamoring by fans, Canelo wanted to prevent Golovkin from getting the big payday as long as he possibly could. What pissed Canelo off was the postponing of that second fight, and that's where the bad blood came in because that's where Golovkin started calling Canelo a cheater. That's where the bitterness came out, and the blood began boiling.
He didn't want to reward Golovkin. Don't be mistaken, Canelo is not afraid of anybody. We know that. You can take him for his word. Where else is Golovkin gonna make that kind of money? He's not. Canelo is the golden goose, and he's the one that says, ‘Ok, I'll fight him. He deserves a payday’.
But Canelo was obviously financially coerced into that fight. It wasn't 'Let me give the fans what they wan't. It was like, ‘I'm tired of this f—ing guy. Pay me a s—load of money’. He signed a mega-deal, but Golovkin was part of that mega-deal. He knew what he signed on to. We all want to see this trilogy.
Four years later, we are finally here. Canelo-GGG 3 isn't your normal trilogy. It's personal between these two. There's so much spite between them. Yes, they respect each for what they have accomplished so far in their respective Hall of Fame careers.
Canelo and GGG is just one of these rivalries where it needs to end in a knockout. Nothing more. Nothing less. The best part is we're gonna get it this third time. I don't think we will have a split decision draw, a split draw, or a majority decision. We're not going to have any controversy. The judges aren't going to be needed so they can just grab some food, some refreshments and enjoy two dynamic punchers stand toe-to-toe for however long the fight lasts.
I don't think it reaches the final bell. We're gonna get a knockout.
Chances are Canelo gets it because he's the younger, fresher fighter. But he is coming off a loss, so these are all things that Golovkin, who is coming off a couple of good wins, is thinking about. He's only lost to Canelo in disputed fights. But he has been hurt to the body in his last two fights and it is something Canelo is going to make a point of emphasis as he's already shown those vulnerabilities.
A Canelo knockout is going to happen and it will signal a sweet ending to a bitter rivalry.