THE SEQUEL
ALVAREZ’S SLIM WIN OVER GOLOVKIN WAS MARRED BY OUTRAGE IN LAS VEGAS’ T-MOBILE ARENA
There was no heist in Las Vegas last weekend when Saul Canelo Alvarez had his hand raised at the end of 12 rounds and Gennady Golovkin scampered off in silence to his dressing room.
Last September they fought a wildly debated draw, and in front of a capacity crowd of 22,000 this time at the T-mobile Arena and against a shifting backdrop of foul play, denials and redemption, they continued their epic struggle.
One judge delivered a drawn score of 114114 and two voted for Alvarez with an identical tally of 115-113, which means the lawed Mexican idol won seven and lost ive rounds; it was an honest score rendered in good faith by seasoned judges, but once again the howls of “ix” illed the air.
I scored it six rounds each; there were some wafer-thin rounds and not one of the judges sat at ringside wearing a Tricky Dicky Nixon rubber mask.
Both prizeighters inished cut, bruised, tired and swinging during another last round that will sit forever in the heads of every witness. The judges even split the vote in the inal round — a round Golovkin needed to win to retain his titles — and a point either way at that stage, in a rematch that took a year to make and in a series that has been taking inevitable shape for several years, can signiicantly alter history and leave a permanent disputed mark.
It is a mark that is hard to erase and sadly, there are some in my business desperate to believe that the darkest