Canelo Alvarez Back Running After Knee Recovery Ahead of Golovkin Trilogy
This September 17, undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KO’s) will stage a not-so-asked-for trilogy. In that affair, the Mexican will once again test his might against the challenge of IBF and WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KO’s).
At this point in time, Alvarez is the strong favorite in the opinion of most boxing fans. This remains the case despite Alvarez coming in directly off a loss to WBA Super light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. Many are somewhat giving the redhead a pass because he went up in weight to stage his duel with the 175-pounder. In his prizefight with Golovkin however, it will technically be Alvarez who is the bigger man.
Putting the Bivol defeat to the side for a moment, Canelo, 32, launched a precision attack on the 168-pound division back in late 2020. When all the dust had settled, the Mexican had collected all the belts and stood as the undisputed champion. Meanwhile, Golovkin, 40, has been facing second and third tier fighters as of late. Even worse, many felt that, three fights ago, he should have been branded with a loss to Sergey Derevyanchenko. So between age, diminished performances and general wear and tear, a grim future for GGG seems to be lying in wait.
CRUNCHY KNEE BLUES
Yet, any strategist worth two shiny pennies will tell you to take all potentials into account. With this being said, it would be foolhardy to think that all the negatives rest with Golovkin. Sure GGG, is older, but he is not the one who’s had knee surgery and a brace to contend with. In fact, Canelo even admitted that this was the first time that he ran in camp in a number of years due to his impaired knee.
“Since 2018, before the fight with Golovkin I stopped running because [of] my knees. So for this camp I started running again, three times a week. I didn’t run for that fight with Golovkin, too. Because remember, I had surgery in April before the fight.”
Of course, there is also the colossal amount of public pressure to secure the win. Regardless of how popular he is, the redhead could not likely survive two consecutive defeats minus a substantial drop in clout and political positioning. So between the pressure to perform, dropping back in weight, facing an opponent that knows you well and his ailing knees, it’s outrageous to envision Alvarez not having the best night in the ring. But as they say, ‘that’s why they fight the fights!” Just be sure to tune in on fight night to check out the thrilling conclusion!
By: Bakari Simpson
