Canelo Earns Close Decision, Hands GGG 1st Loss

After a controversial scorecard in his favor caused their first bout to be a draw, and a failed drug test nearly ended hopes of a rematch, Canelo Alvarez is back on top.

Alvarez defeated Gennady Golovkin via majority decision to win the WBA, WBC, IBO, lineal and The Ring middleweight titles. This fight also gives GGG the first loss of his professional career. GGG, seemingly frustrated, walked out of the ring immediately and did not participate in a post-fight interview.

Canelo’s victory also opens the door for a Dec. 15 date at Madison Square Garden.

The opening round was fairly quiet and even, as both men worked the left jab in the hopes of it leading to something bigger. And the second round set the close intensity of the bout, as both landed their fair share, though it was noted a hard left to Golovkin’s cheek caused some significant swelling.

By the third round, Golovkin was already breathing heavy, something not normally seen from the Kazakhstani boxer. His fatigue seemed to cause him to miss some big shots throughout the third and fourth, which Canelo took advantage of, and may have caused the judges to give the Mexican fighter some leverage early on.

The fifth round was particularly close, though Alvarez took all GGG could offer and landed some hard shots of his own. To add to that, Alvarez seemed to be the one applying pressure and controlling the pace as the fight entered the halfway mark.

After 12 close, action-packed rounds of #CaneloGGG2, @Canelo beats @GGGBoxing by majority decision. #AndNew #InstantClassic #Boxing pic.twitter.com/OrPQBRowhD

— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) September 16, 2018

In the seventh, however, GGG looked to take over, as Alvarez had fatigued himself. GGG’s shots may not have been as powerful, but he still had more power, more activity, and he began to take the pressure to his challenger. Alvarez began to be more selective with his punches in the ninth, as he also battled a bad cut that formed on his eyebrow.

GGG rocked Canelo hard with a couple of shots to the head in the 10th, but Alvarez managed to somehow stay on his feet. After a close 11th round, with both men physically exhausted out, both men caught final winds and fired away throughout the final round.

It was close — closer than their original bout. In fact, one judge even gave the bout a 114-114 decision. But Alvarez won the bout with the other two judges giving decisions of 115-113.

For a full round-by-round recap, click here.

On the undercard, Jamie Munguia retained his WBO Junior Middleweight Title, defeating Brandon Cook. After dominating Cook for two rounds, Munguia dropped him in the third before applying the pressure and finishing his challenger off with a ref stoppage.

Meanwhile, David Lemieux scored a big first-round knockout of Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan in a WBA Middleweight Title Eliminator, which means he likely will now be the WBA mandatory challenger for Canelo. It is unknown if this guarantees him to be the opponent for Canelo at MSG on Dec. 15.

Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, after two devastating losses in 2017, bounced back with a fifth-round knockout of Moises Fuentes.