Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez met yesterday in London, on the first stop in their promotional tour ahead of the September 16 showdown for the world middleweight crown; arguably THE biggest fight of the year.
And while the two men eyeballed one-another in an icy fashion, the two let it be known they have plenty of respect for each other’s considerable talents. Canelo said he fully expects the fight to end in a KO – and you can of course guess who the Mexican warrior feels will be the man scoring the knockout. While Golovkin, who has never experienced defeat (Canelo has, but only at the hands of the sublime Floyd Mayweather Jr.) says he is fully expecting, and is prepared for, the “toughest test” of his entire career.
“This is the biggest challenge, the biggest fight of my career,” Golovkin told Sky Sports News HQ shortly after yesterday’s presser. “I’m very excited. It’s a huge fight for us, not just for us I think for everybody. I believe he’s 100 percent ready. I promise I’m 100 percent ready. This is a big, dramatic fight because he is a huge fighter. This is a big gift to people.”
It is, as we all know, the fight that had been demanded, but at times never truly expected, for years. Can we expect a classic in Las Vegas in September? GGG promoter Tom Loeffler certainly thinks so, saying how this fight will rival the great middleweight showdowns of years gone by.
“Both guys have a very high ring IQ, but they have the type of style where they coe forward,” Loeffler said. “They’re not going to be dancing, they’ll be coming right at each other. I think this fight rivals some of the best middleweight classics.”
Loeffler also stated how, in his belief, GGG-Canelo is a “throwback fight in the middleweight division.”
But how far back is Loeffler thinking? Could we see an all-out war that brings back memories of the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson-Jake La Motta fight (their final meeting)? Is today’s world ready for such punishing brutality? In more recent terms, the epic but short Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns scorcher set the benchmark for great 160 pound action.
If we get something akin to either the 1950’s classic or the 1980’s slugfest, fans everywhere will go home happy – whoever wins. Is Canelo right; will we see a KO in September? Or might we see a hugely skilled chess-match type of fight that goes all 12 rounds?
Fans cannot wait to find out. Neither can the two combatants.
