Saturday, in a tight match before a crowd of nearly 22,000 at the T-Mobile Arena, Gennady Golovkin narrowly defeated Canelo Alvarez.
Losing was perhaps especially painful for Golovkin—it was his first loss ever defending his long-running status as the middle weight titleholder. This could be strong motivation for a third match.
The judges’ final scores showed just what a slim victory it truly was: two called it a victory for Alvarez, 115-113, but the third put it down as a tie, 114-114.
The 12th round was where the rubber met the road and the judges gave it to Alvarez. So, after the match, the winner said he’d achieved victory “with facts.”
Speaking in his native Spanish, Alvarez continued, “He was the one who was backing up. I feel satisfied because I gave a great fight. It was a clear victory.”
Golovkin has successfully defended his title for eight years, so it’s likely the loss wasn’t just physically painful. He immediately left the ring without comment after hearing the judges’ decision, ostensibly to get stitches over his right eye. Later, he said, “I’m not going to say who won tonight, because the victory belongs to Canelo—according to the judges.”
“I thought it was a very good fight for the fans, and very exciting,” Golovkin said, “I thought I fought better than he did.”
Compubox tweeted some of the key stats.
Twitter commentary was all over the place, from enthused celebs who just enjoyed watching to enraged fans calling foul.
In the minds of most fans, there’s probably one pressing question: when will there be a third fight?
Alvarez said, “If the people want another round, I’ll do it again.”
Golovkin was less direct. “Under the right conditions, yes.”
