After controversial scorecards overshadowed their first two meetings, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin met for a third time on Saturday night in Las Vegas. This time around, Alvarez left little debate that he was the better fighter, though the scorecards may have reflected a closer fight than actually took place. With the unanimous decision win, Alvarez remains the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world.
Alvarez dominated the fight with defense and a strong combination of wide overhand rights, jabs and left hooks. Golovkin spent the first eight rounds working behind a largely ineffective jab, seemingly digging himself a deep hole on the scorecards. In the first two rounds, Golovkin had only landed two of 32 total jabs.
Things didn't get much better for Golovkin as the rounds ticked by. Alvarez would land jabs and hooks while Golovkin would chase and miss with the majority of his punches.
It was a far less competitive fight than their September 2017 meeting, which was ruled a split draw, or their September 2018 meeting, which Alvarez took by majority decision.
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It was somewhat shocking that Alvarez failed to work to the body with any regularity. Golovkin, 40, had shown a vulnerability to body shots in his recent fights and Alvarez has one of the best left hands to the body in the sport. Still, Alvarez did not need to key in on Golovkin's ribs as his very basic strategy had worked well.
While Alvarez had promised a knockout, he never needed to shift to a higher gear to shoot for the finish, instead working over Golovkin with simple and crisp boxing.
Despite seemingly having earned a wide decision win, the scorecards were controversial for the third straight meeting between the two. Alvarez took the deserved decision victory, but by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. CBS Sports scored the fight 118-110 for Alvarez.
"He's a really good fighter," Alvarez said after the fight. "He's strong. He's a great fighter and that's why we're here. I'm glad to share the ring with him. I'm going to keep forward to keep my legacy strong."
Alvarez then suggested that he was committed to a fight with the winner of the fight between WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramírez on Nov. 5. Alvarez lost to Bivol in May, the first loss for "Canelo" since September 2013. Rather than immediately seek to enact his rematch clause, Alvarez instead chose to settle his rivalry with Golovkin in a fight many observers felt was coming at least three years after its expiration date.
Before he seeks revenge -- and a second light heavyweight world title -- Alvarez said he needs time to rest and heal his body as well as undergo surgery on his left hand. The fight with Golovkin was Alvarez's ninth in the past four years.
The loss was only the second of Golovkin's career. He still holds the IBF and WBA middleweight titles and said after the fight that he would return to 160 pounds for his next, brushing off any suggestion he would retire after the trilogy fight with Alvarez.
"Everybody knows, this is high-level class. This is the best fighter in boxing. Everyone knows who is Canelo. It's a huge fight. Look at his face, look at my face. We trained well, and this shows that we did a very good-quality fight.
"This fight is more tactical. Today, Canelo is better. Congrats to Canelo."
The undercard saw Jesse Rodriguez retain his WBC super flyweight title by decision over Israel Gonzalez, though it was not as clear cut as the pre-fight odds would have suggested. Plus, Ali Akhmedov made easy work of veteran Gabriel Rosado to earn a decision win. And Austin Williams thrashed Kieron Conway en route to a decision win of his own.
CBS Sports was with you throughout the night in Las Vegas, so be sure to follow along with the live results and highlights below.
Alvarez vs. Golovkin 3 fight card, results
- Canelo Alvarez (c) def. Gennadiy Golovkin via unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 115-113)
- Jesse Rodriguez (c) def. Israel Gonzalez via unanimous decision (118-109, 117-110, 114-113)
- Ali Akhmedov def. Gabriel Rosado via unanimous decision (100-90, 100-90, 100-90)
- Austin Williams def. Kieron Conway via unanimous decision (96-93, 97-92, 97-92)
Alvarez vs. Golovkin 3 scorecard
Scoring by Brian Campbell
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvarez (c) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 118 |
| Golovkin | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 110 |