GGG Upset Canelo Rematch Was Not Granted

Back on Sept. 15, Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez collided in an epic, long-awaited middleweight title rematch following their 2017 controversial split draw. And in the second fight, Alvarez edged out GGG with a razor-thin majority decision to win the WBA (Super) and WBC Middleweight Titles.

Plenty in the boxing community felt Golovkin was the one who deserved the close victory, and many hoped that we would get to see a trilogy bout between the two. But if there is one, it will have to wait, as a request from GGG for an immediate rematch given to the WBC at its recent convention was turned down.

Instead, the WBC ruled that Alvarez will be allowed to make a voluntary defense and Golovkin must instead face interim WBC champion Jermell Charlo in a title eliminator. On Dec. 15, Canelo will step up to super middleweight Rocky Fielding for the WBA (Regular) Title at Madison Square Garden in New York. A victory would make Alvarez a three-division world champion.

“Golovkin feels left out and I’m very sorry about that. I just read a message from him,” WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman said. “You have to understand that boxing is a stage, if the fight is very good [then another is demanded], but they had a war and I do not think it’s something that should happen immediately. There was a message from Tom Loeffler, from his promoter, the message is not negative, simply that they expected that we would have voted for a direct rematch.”

Original Story: Boxing Scene