WORTH WATCHING
NO world title fights, no marquee names, but perhaps more importantly, some tidy looking scraps. At feather, the streaking
Joseph Diaz,
24-0 (13), is favoured to get the better of Mexico’s rock hard Jorge Lara in their 12-rounder. But Lara, 29-0-2 (21), is exceptionally difficult to beat, and his power accounted for the fading Fernando Montiel in just one round last year. There’s another battle of the unbeatens at super-bantam as Mexico’s
Diego De La Hoya, 19-0 (9), steps up in class to take on former IBF bantamweight boss, Randy Caballero,
24-0 (14), over 10 rounds. The Californian grew out of the 118lb division, losing his title on the scales ahead of an aborted defence against Lee Haskins in November 2015, and providing his preparation has been on point, he can edge it here. And in the first of the televised bouts, lightweight starlet Ryan Martin, 19-0 (11), looks set for a tough night against Mexico’s
Francisco Rojo
over 10 rounds. ➤ Marco Antonio Rubio was cut down by a looping left hook to the top of the head; Daniel Geale was flattened by a sweeping right cross, delivered off the back foot; Nobuhiro Ishida was knocked unconscious through the ropes; Matt Macklin spent four minutes on the canvas after wearing a left to the liver. But, said the naysayers, none of this savagery proved Golovkin’s greatness.
To be a great, you’ve got to beat greats, and it has been Golovkin’s misfortune – or fortune, whichever way you look at it – to reign during a fallow time for the middleweight division. Even Golovkin seemed a little bit embarrassed when he was bracketed with Marvin Hagler or Carlos Monzon. “When people compare me to Hagler,” he said, “it’s too much for me. Maybe in the future.”
Frustrated at being dubbed ‘boxing’s most avoided fighter’, and no doubt hungry for some hefty pay packets, Golovkin seemed sincere when he said he was keen to prove himself against super-middleweight kings Carl Froch and Andre Ward. But when Froch hung ‘em up and Ward jumped to lightheavy, Golovkin was forced to accept the challenge of Kell Brook instead, the Briton having jumped two weight divisions. Brook gave a good account of himself last September, but was ultimately outgunned, and Golovkin’s quest for definition continued.
Perhaps if Golovkin took a leaf out of Mcgregor’s book, slipped into a mink coat and ranted and raved a bit, there would be a greater appreciation of his achievements. That seems to be the way with modern boxing. But Golovkin is just a nice family man with a sensible haircut and a goofy grin. It’s this niceness, as much as the one-sidedness of most of his contests and his rudimentary English, that has prevented Golovkin from becoming a breakout star.
Alvarez is the dancing partner Golovkin has been looking for. The Mexican ticks all the boxes: a man who doesn’t like dancing anyway; a man who comes to fight; a man as tough as he is; a man with knockout power in both fists; a man almost certain to deliver a ‘big drama show’, to borrow one of Golovkin’s favourite phrases. Most important, Alvarez will be Golovkin’s first opponent ranked inside the pound-forpound top 10. Do a number on Alvarez, and Golovkin should, at last, earn the recognition he’s been craving for so long.
Alvarez is a much-improved boxer since being outclassed by Mayweather in 2013, when he struggled to lay a glove on the great man and was made to look ordinary. And he appears to have timed his match with Golovkin pretty much perfectly. Had it happened 16 months ago, when fans were screaming for it, Golovkin would have been a heavier bookies’ favourite than he is now. As it is, Alvarez, who is still only 27, has had time to get comfy at the weight, while Golovkin, who is eight years older, might have already seen his best days.
Having turned pro as a 15-year-old, Alvarez has engaged in 14 more pro fights than Golovkin, but the man from Guadalajara has shown no signs of decline. Golovkin, meanwhile, was hit often by Brook and taken the distance by Daniel Jacobs in his last fight, the first time he had heard the final bell since 2008. Golovkin’s narrow victory over Jacobs called to mind Hagler’s tougherthan-expected victory over John Mugabi, which persuaded Sugar Ray Leonard to come out of retirement. Leonard believed Hagler had dulled and proved he was right by pulling off one of boxing’s biggest upsets. Sugar Ray knew a bit about timing.
Golovkin’s amateur pedigree alone tells you he’s more than just a slugger, but an iron jaw – he has never been over – has allowed him to walk previous opponents down and to hell with the consequences.
‘WHEN I’M COMPARED TO HAGLER IT’S TOO MUCH’
In Alvarez, Golovkin has an opponent who will hold the centre of the ring, push him back at times and pepper him with counters, the variety of which he won’t have seen before.
“Golovkin will try to do many things, but in the heat of the battle you always turn back to your natural style,” says Alvarez. “So he will attack, going forward, trying to use his punching power to get the KO. But my style will adapt. Some people think the so-called Mexican style is just to go forward and take a lot of punches, or to give a few and take a few more. But I like to do it all. I like to go toe-to-toe, I like to box, I like to move around and I like to counter-punch.” Sanchez’s claim that his charge deliberately boxed badly against Jacobs, to tempt Alvarez into a fight, sounds spurious. But there is the possibility that Golovkin’s under-par performances in his last two contests were down to a lack of motivation, rather than the disintegration of his skills. On the edge of greatness, complacency won’t be an excuse against Alvarez. “Maybe for me this win will be like a history fight, like Leonard versus Hagler,” says Golovkin. “There have been a lot of great champions in the middleweight division, like Carlos Monzon, Marvin Hagler and Bernard Hopkins. But these are new times for us, and now I think there will be new stories.”
Golovkin-alvarez will have to go some to surpass the mayhem of Anthony Joshua’s defeat of Wladimir Klitschko in April. But with 67 early finishes between them, it can’t possibly be a bad one. Unlike that business deal-cum-sparring session in Vegas a couple of weeks ago, this fight’s anyone’s. What started life as a definite win for Golovkin, has grown – for many observers – into Alvarez’s fight.
“People are blinded by punchers,” says Hopkins. “But Golovkin’s gonna lose. He hasn’t got better, he hasn’t got worse. But does he have a Plan B? He’s never had to have a Plan B, and against Canelo he’s gonna have to have a Plan B and C. In the second half of the fight, Golovkin’s gonna be in a situation he’s never been in before and Canelo’s skills will overcome Golovkin’s strength.”
If you know what’s good for you, you’ll tune in. Whatever happens, it will be a proper contest, between proper boxers, with proper dignity. And at the end of it, you’ll be able to say: “That wasn’t a fight. This was a fight.”
TURN OVER Those who know best explore the strengths and weaknesses of Canelo and Golovkin, while we bring you our prediction...