Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez had a lot of hype to live up to. Their meeting had been demanded by the fans for years and when it finally took place the fight was calculated, close, and exciting. Golovkin played the part of the pressure fighter, and Canelo played the part of the counter-puncher just as they were advertised to, and for twelve rounds the men put on a great show that was well worth of the price of admission (or pay-per-view). But this is boxing, and the action and the fighters have rarely been the sticking point for fans of this business.
The alienation of casual fans and even many long-time devotees of the sport has been the doing of everyone except the lads lacing up their boots to do battle. Management keeps fighters away from the big bouts until as much money as possible has been milked from padding their man’s record. The associations and councils create more and more belts, devaluing any meaning that they once had. But that stuff only hurts the image and appeal of the sport. It doesn’t damage the fights themselves.
Videos by VICE
That comes down to the commissions, the sanctioning bodies that keep employing the same few officials who just can’t do their jobs right—whether it’s referee Kenny Bayless singlehandedly killing the infight with his fear of two men touching, or Adalaide Byrd scoring fights in ways which anyone else simply cannot fathom. Both Bayless and Byrd were on hand for Saturday’s fight, and while Bayless could not decide when he would let the men work out of a clinch and when he would break them at the first touch, he didn’t ruin the bout. It was Byrd’s scorecard in the aftermath that managed that.
The view of most objective parties who watched the fight was that it was a good, close scrap but that Golovkin probably deserved the nod. For most of the rounds, Golovkin was advancing, forearms up, and snapping in his deceptively fast jab. Canelo was never in danger of being overwhelmed, but his counters were largely absent and he spent long periods of the fight leaning on the ropes, hoping to find big counter punches that seldom turned up. Golovkin was consistently landing the jab and short, tight flurries while Canelo was loading up and looking for counters which landed far less often. The fight was close enough that one of the officials judges scored it 115-114 for Golovkin and another scored it a 114-114 draw. Adalaide Byrd’s card read 118-110 for Canelo, giving him the nod in ten of the twelve rounds. The most infuriating thing about boxing controversies like this is that the commissions will go all out to defend their judges and referees and to let you know that it could not be corruption—no such thing. Instead they insist that bad judging down to regular old ineptitude, as if that makes it somehow better.
Stabbin’ the Jab In
Let us return to the fight itself though, because it was a good one which answered many of our questions from the pre-fight analysis. Aggressive ring cutter versus counter puncher is always an interesting matchup—usually ruled by how well the counter fighter can stay off the ropes, if he can land his blows as the ring cutter is closing, and if he can tie up to avoid punishment and force a referee break. As it turned out, Golovkin came in to cut the ring and provide pressure, but almost all of his hitting was done with his jab. Wedging his way in behind that peculiar high forearms, elbows forward guard, Golovkin flicked off pecking jabs which gave Canelo scanty openings into which he could counter punch.
When Alvarez hit the ropes, Golovkin would not go wild hunting his man’s body as he had against so many other opponents. Instead he tapped off a few punches and immediately reset behind his jab. Canelo essentially gave away the fifth round by leaning on the ropes and hoping to draw out some bigger blows, but Golovkin was having none of it and simply pinned him in place with jabs and flicking right straights.
Canelo’s ringcraft looked solid, and often along the ropes he would wait for Golovkin to throw the right hand before pivoting off behind his lead shoulder. This is a classic means of cutting an angle and stopping short the opponent’s offensive flurries. You will remember Miguel Cotto using it to stop the momentum of bigger opponents in recent fights. Because of this, Golovkin’s corner began asking for long hooks and body hooks if he intended to throw the right hand.
While there is only so much you can do with just your fists—straights, hooks, and uppercuts—each blow can be tailored to a different purpose. Canelo’s right uppercut is one of his favorite damage dealers and he uses it well as a counter punch out in the open, but he often winds it up, dropping it almost behind him before throwing it. That works very well when he has just slipped an opponent’s punch. Golovkin’s uppercuts in this bout were largely in the Roberto Duran mold, with the elbow tight and thrown straight up the centre line. Coming straight out of his high guard and often getting his upper body off line before throwing, Golovkin could capitalize on Canelo covering up on the ropes without opening himself up to the mid-range counter punches that Canelo uses to make his money.
In our Tactical GuideBy coming forward and making a fight of it on the inside, Canelo was also able to get Golovkin to open up more for counters in the later rounds, but it seemed to be too little, too late.
Canelo had spent too much of the fight not working, putting his back to the ropes, and shuffling his feet when he broke free. Canelo’s work in the last few rounds was encouraging for the now inevitable rematch, but it is Golovkin who comes out of this as the winner in the eyes of most fans and pundits. Tasked with a heavy hitting counter puncher, and probably the most accomplished opponent of his professional career, Golovkin was on the offensive through each round. Golovkin’s beautiful jab allowed him to throw off Canelo’s timing and avoid the counters for the most part, but even the ones Canelo landed seemed to do very little to the iron-jawed Kazakh, who immediately went back on the attack.
Pick up Jack’s book, Notorious: The Life and Fights of Conor McGregor .
