Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez v Gennady Golovkin shows boxing has finally got its act together, writes Dan Jones

Squashed: Sail 'Canelo' Alvarez demolishes Julio Cesar Chavez Jr
USA Today Sports
Dan Jones9 May 2017

After the biggest fight in boxing, here comes the biggest fight in boxing. I’m not talking of the hypothetical Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury match-up that is, in reality, a dream somewhere up a pipe that is blocked by Fury’s excess of belly and lack of a boxing licence.

No, I mean Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez v Gennady Golovkin: a bout that is really happening, and which deserves every scrap of hype and fistful of dollars it attracts. Canelo-Golovkin, Mexico’s finest against Kazakhstan’s concrete warrior, will take place on September 16.

And really, there’s nothing not to like. Two of the best pound-for-pound fighters, the two most dangerous middleweights and two exciting fighters with loyal fanbases — are going to do something relatively unusual in boxing, and actually fight each other at a time when both are at or still near their peak. It feels almost like boxing is getting its act together. Will wonders never cease?

There is, understandably, renewed interest in the heavyweight division, thanks to Joshua’s seat-of-the-trousers win over Klitschko and the various permutations of big-boys fights that suddenly seem possible: Joshua-Klitschko II, Joshua-Fury, Joshua-Joseph Parker, Joshua-Deontay Wilder, Joshua-The Hard Bloke From Your Pub, etc.

But really, Canelo-Golovkin (probably to be fought in Las Vegas, probably at 160lbs) offers more than any of that.

The ambitions of the promoters — Golden Boy and K2 — will be to make a fight that approaches the benchmark set by the last genuine world superfight, Floyd Mayweather’s straightforward win over Manny Pacquiao in 2015.

That fight made around $400m but, paradoxically, one of the main reasons Mayweather-Pacquiao made so much money was that it took place six years too late, when both men (and Pacquiao in particular) were past their best. The fight was lacklustre, as Mayweather did his usual: boxing defensively and awkwardly against an opponent who was injured and over the hill.

Canelo-Golovkin could have happened last year. Many think it should have done so, and Canelo has been accused of trying to pull the same trick Mayweather used so often — ducking a man at his prime in order to maximize the commercial appetite for the fight and his own chances of winning.

Canelo is 26 years old and on Saturday showed that he is strong, fast, aggressive and miles better than some of the other much-vaunted Mexican boxers of his generation.

He squashed Julio Cesar Chavez Jr like a mosquito, winning every round, refusing to sit on his stool between the bells and hitting Chavez Jr with a few quite sublime shots. One lighting right-hand counter in the fifth round was the punch of the year so far.

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Golovkin, at 35, has been one of the most fearsome, and fearless, fighters in the world for years — so hard and powerful that he has struggled to find opponents willing to be broken by his relentless, swarming barrages of fists.

He is unbeaten in 37 professional contests, and it is a mark of his brilliance that people saw a unanimous 12-round victory over his last opponent, Daniel Jacobs, as a sign that he is losing his touch. Where was the knockout, GGG?

I don’t buy into that. Golovkin is far from diminished, as Kell Brook will tell you. The British welterweight had his right eye pulverised by GGG at the O2 Arena last autumn and was forced to quit after five rounds. If this is Golovkin slowing down, you wouldn’t want to see him speeding up again.

Of all the great fights that are possible in the noble sport of boxing, vanishingly few are made, and fewer still are made at the best possible moment. Canelo-Golovkin bucks that trend: two of the world’s best, going at it while they are on top of their game. Bring on September 16. And someone save me a seat.

Quit Warren bawling

Warren Gatland responded more politely than you or I might have done to the whining from Saracens and Gloucester about their Lions players being called to an admin session yesterday. Yes, both clubs have big European finals this weekend. But the Lions have a punishing schedule, too, and the 41 men selected are about to experience the highest honour in the game. They can juggle. They have to. And the clubs, busy as they are, ought to suck that up.

England so strong

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It says a lot about England’s newfound strength and ambition in one-day cricket that Jonny Bairstow is fighting for a place in the side. As his 72 off 44 balls against Ireland on Sunday showed, he would walk into most international XIs, whether as a batsman or strokeplaying keeper. Yet he is tussling for a place with Moeen Ali and Sam Billings, with Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes still to return. England have some nice problems — no wonder they are the bookies’ favourites for the Champions Trophy.

Extraordinary Eliud

Even though Eliud Kipchoge’s marathon time of 2:00:25 at Monza won’t count as a world record, it is still a staggering feat in its own right. To get so close to 120 minutes for 26.2 miles speaks to extraordinary genetics, training and dedication — even if the effort was assisted with in-out pacemakers, drinks on scooters and the rest of it. We are getting so close to the mark now — and for anyone interested in the science and story of the 120min marathon dream, I heartily recommend Ed Caesar’s superb Two Hours, out now in paperback.

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