With a plethora of intriguing fights to be made in the sport of boxing, perhaps few spark more interest than the potential middleweight title clash between WBA, IBF, IBO, and interim WBC champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and reigning WBC title holder Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
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While the WBC has mandated that this fight take place or Alvarez vacate his title, the two sides have agreed to take interim bouts in the meantime, with the showdown hopefully taking place next fall.
With that being said, there are multiple steps towards making this highly-anticipated fight a reality with the most obvious being that each man comes out on top in their upcoming fights.
Starting off with “Canelo”, it was reported this week by Golden Boy Promotions that the Mexican superstar would be defending his title against two-time former world champion Amir “King” Khan on May 7, 2016 in Las Vegas.
While the announcement of this fight was unexpected to say the least, it could prove to be quite an exciting affair.
Khan, a natural welterweight, will be moving up from his usual home at 147-pounds to take on Alvarez, leading many to harp on the size advantage that the Mexican will undoubtedly possess. However, the two have agreed to fight at a catch weight of 155-pounds rather than the middleweight limit of 160-pounds.
Aside from a possible size and power disadvantage, “King” will without question be the faster fighter, and could quite possibly be the better pure boxer in terms of movement, hand speed, and combinations.
“Canelo” has had some difficulties with quicker combatants in the past, and while Khan is no Floyd Mayweather, he should look to use these skills to his advantage.
With that also being said, Alvarez has grown into one of the best middleweights in the world, and an extremely powerful middleweight at that. 32 of his 46 wins have come by way of knockout, and the Mexican should look to pin his British opponent up in close corners before raining down his heavy shots.
If he can execute his game plan, “Canelo” should be able to do his part in bringing a showdown with “GGG” that much closer to fruition.
Golovkin, a monstrous knockout artist from Kazakhstan, also reportedly has his next fight set, as he will meet mandatory IBF challenger Dominic Wade on April 23, 2016 per ESPN’s Dan Rafael.
“GGG”, who currently boasts a super-impressive 34-0 record with 31 knockouts, is coming off of an eighth-round stoppage victory over David Lemieux last October to become the IBF middleweight title holder.
Wade, a 25-year-old unbeaten contender, may be a relative unknown to the sport’s casual fans, and for good reason, as he hasn’t necessarily faced off with any of the sport’s elite. Coming off of a rather lackluster split-decision victory over Sam Soliman, Wade will be taking on his toughest test to date in Golovkin.
If “GGG” can add yet another finish to his resume, which most expect him to do, he too will continue the trek towards the fight fans seem to be most interested in.
While many have lost hope in a Canelo-Golovkin bout actually coming together, it’s not in any way out of the question just yet.
In fact, Oscar De La Hoya, Alvarez’s promoter and head of Golden Boy Promotion’s, assured ESPN this week that the fight would indeed take place:
“The Golovkin fight is going to happen, believe me,” De La Hoya said. “We are looking forward to it.”
Do you see “Canelo” or “GGG” experiencing any road bumps in their interim bouts, or are both men on a collision course to face off for true middleweight supremacy?
(Top image and source and credit: Fightsaga.com)
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