With freak show over, real fight is finally here

LAS VEGAS— The freak show of a fight is over, and for that everyone in boxing should be glad. That Conor McGregor managed to make it into the 10th round against a retired 40-year-old who can’t knock real boxers out isn’t much to celebrate.

Yes, McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. captured the nation’s attention with a spectacle that played out pretty much how most boxing experts predicted. It made for a grand time in living rooms across the country, providing some entertainment in tense times for about 50 million people.

Now comes the real fight — and what a fight it will be.

Canelo Alvarez against Gennady Golovkin is as good as it gets in the Sweet Science, a sport that is in the midst of a renaissance of sorts.

They meet Saturday night in a middleweight title clash as highly anticipated by boxing purists as was McGregor’s challenge of Mayweather to UFC fans.

Two fighters who both rank high on anyone’s pound-for-pound list. One loss between them, with Golovkin’s three middleweight belts on the line. And unlike Mayweather, they knock people out. “It is not a fight,” Golovkin said. “It is a war.” Whatever you call it, it shapes up as the most anticipated fight of the year in boxing. It’s not too much of a stretch to say it might be the best middleweight clash since Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns engaged in their classic more than 30 years ago.

“We’re both going to fight a fight where anybody can win by knockout,” Alvarez said. “We both have the power to win by knockout.”