Big fight ends in disputed draw

Gennady Golovkin and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fought to a controversial draw in their long-awaited middleweight world title bout in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Gennady Golovkin and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fought to a controversial draw in their longawaited middleweight worldtitle bout here on Saturday.

Kazakh Golovkin and Mexican Alvarez each got the nod from one judge, while the third declared it a draw. Golovkin, who landed more punches overall, remains unbeaten and retains his middleweight WBA, WBC, IBF and IBO belts.

Golovkin started cautiously but had the edge in the middle rounds as the fight heated up and started to live up to its hype, eventually turning into a brutal and memorable encounter.

Alvarez finished with a flurry as the capacity crowd cheered him on.

All three judges gave the Mexican the last three rounds.

Golovkin landed more punches over the 12 rounds and was ahead 218 to 169 overall by an unofficial count.

Both boxers said they were keen to fight again.

“Yes, of course, if the people want it,” said Alvarez.

“Look at my belts. I’m still the champion,” he said. “Of course, I want a rematch.”

While many experts gave Golovkin the edge, the scorecard of the judge that awarded it to Alvarez 118-110 immediately raised eyebrows.

Another judge scored the fight 115-113 to Golovkin, while the third had it a 114-114 draw. The result was roundly booed.

The two best middleweights and two of the top pound-forpound fighters in the sport offered contrasting styles.

Golovkin mostly occupied the centre of the ring, while Alvarez was more comfortable near the ropes, content for the most part to counterpunch.

Golovkin had an edge in jabs, but neither fighter could deliver a knockout.

The result leaves Golovkin with a 37-0-1 career record, while Alvarez is 49-1-2.

Although Golovkin came in as champion, he accepted a smaller guarantee, reportedly $3m to Alvarez’s $5m.