Canelo Alvarez defeated Gennadiy Golovkin by a unanimous decision in the third fight between them to retain his super middleweight championship.
The scores were 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. Boxing Junkie scored it 119-109, 11 rounds to one.
Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) made Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) look every one of his 40 years, pushing the action and outworking the old man from the opening bell.
Golovkin, plodding and inactive, seemed more concerned with surviving than fighting back most of the fight. However, he picked up his pace in the final third of the fight to make the fight competitive on the cards.
Alvarez is now 2-0-1 in his three fights with his rival.
You can read the full report here.
ROUND 12
Alvarez put out some effort to get a knockout but Golovkin wouldn’t allow it, holding when things got hairy but also throwing some of his own power shots to keep Alvarez honest. The third fight between the rivals will now go the scorecards.
ROUND 11
Golovkin went back to a more defensive posture that round, throwing relatively few punches. And while Alvarez pushed the action, he didn’t get much done either. He looks tired. Looks like both men are just cruising to what will be a wide decision for Alvarez.
ROUND 10
Alvarez looks at least as tired as Golovkin, who maintained his offensive posture and held his own that round. He didn’t land much but neither did Alvarez. Close round. Alvarez evidently was cut above the right eye by an accidental head butt.
ROUND 9
Golovkin came to life that round, planting his feet as if to make a last stand and firing off some meaningful punches. Alvarez still probably landed more shots but at least Triple-G is fighting back.
ROUND 8
Golovkin’s trainer, Johnathan Banks, said during Round 8 that his fighter needs to get to work. The problem is that the Golovkin we used to know didn’t show up to work. He’s plodding, not throwing punches and taken hard shots. Are we looking at a shutout decision?
ROUND 7
Same story. Alvarez attacking, looking for and landing power shots in an effort to hurt Golovkin. Golovkin throwing jabs here and there and only an occasional power shot. He’s more concerned with not getting hit.
ROUND 6
The pattern continues. Alvarez was the busier fighter, although he wasn’t quite as active that round. Golovkin still isn’t doing enough to give himself a chance to turn the tide. Maybe his mind is telling his body what to do but it isn’t listening.
ROUND 5
Alvarez pushed the action more than round, firing shots to both the head and body. He hadn’t been going much to the body before that. And he connected on a number of power punches, including a big overhand right with about 20 seconds to go. Golovkin was a little more active but still didn’t get much done.
ROUND 4
Golovkin is looking all of his 40 years. He’s not giving himself a chance to win the fight, only throwing some jabs and an occasional power punch that misses the mark. He’s doing OK defensively but that’s it. It’s almost as if he just wants to survive.
ROUND 3
Alvarez fought behind his jab more that round, which he won convincingly. He isn’t landed all of his power shuts but some are getting through. Just as important, he’s dictating the pace; he’s in charge. Golovkin isn’t busy enough to cause Alvarez problems, at least not yet.
ROUND 2
Alvarez isn’t easing into the fight. He’s throwing one big punch after another. And a few landed in that round as he appears to be closing the distance to some degree. Golovkin did a good job of avoiding most of Alvarez’s shots but isn’t doing much himself, although he landed one nice left hook.
ROUND 1
Neither guy landed much of anything in the opening round, as they are trying to find their range and timing. Golovkin threw a lot of jabs but couldn’t connect. Alvarez threw a number of power shots — including a few wild ones — but also couldn’t find the target.
***
Here we go.
Gennadiy Golovkin is in the ring for his third fight with super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez. And the Mexican star is on his way.
Stick around for round-by-round analysis. Just refresh after each round.
***
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez defeated a stubborn Israel Gonzalez to retain his 115-pound title by a xx decision in a hard-fought bout.
The scores were 118-109, 117-110 and 114-113. Boxing Junkie scored it 115-112 for Rodriguez, eight rounds to four.
Gonzalez, a four-time title challenger, got off to a strong start by outworking Rodriguez — and landed many body shots — in the first few rounds to build a lead.
However, Rodriguez (17-0, 11 KOs) picked up his pace by the third or fourth round and began to land power punches that were cleaner and harder than those of his opponent, which evidently impressed the judges.
Rodriguez lost a point for a low blow in Round 8.
Rodriguez caused a sensation by upsetting Carlos Cuadras by decision to win his belt in June and stopping Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in his first defense in June.
***
Super middleweight contender Ali Akhmedov defeated veteran Gabriel Rosado by a shutout decision in a 10-round bout.
Akhmedov (19-1, 14 KOs) used a consistent jab and hard, accurate combinations to pick Rosado (26-16-1, 15 KOs) apart from beginning to end and win every round on all three cards.
And the Kazakhstani took little punishment himself by using his legs to get out of his 36-year-old opponent’s range after inflicting damage.
Akhmedov has now won three consecutive fights since he was stopped by Carlos Gongora in the 12th and final round of a fight he was winning in 2020.
Rosado has lost three consecutive fights since his upset third-round knockout of prospect Bektemir Melikuziev in June 2021. He could be facing retirement.
***
Austin Williams (12-0, 9 KOs) of Houston defeated fellow middleweight contender Kieron Conway (18-3-1, 4 KOs) of the U.K. by a unanimous decision in a 10-round bout.
The scores were 97-92, 97-92 and 96-93. Williams put Conway down in the opening round.
***
Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin will meet for a third time on pay-per-view Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) will be defending his undisputed super middleweight championship against Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs), with whom he is 1-0-1 in two previous fights.
Also on the card, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, coming off sensational victories over Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, will defend his 115-pound title against Israel Gonzalez.
The card begins at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in the show.
Boxing Junkie will post round-by-round commentary of the main event and results of the featured bouts on the card immediately after they end. Simply return to this post when the time comes.
Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the night of the fight and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
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