Saul Alvarez is a one-namer.
In fact, thanks to winning performances in championship-level fights since age 20, the cinnamon-haired Mexican had become the boxing equivalent of Prince, Madonna and Sting.
But after a desultory loss to Dmitry Bivol in May, Canelo was one more off-key evening away from being redubbed as the ring’s version of Nickelback.
So, it’s no surprise that the conqueror of four weight classes—and reigning kingpin at 168 pounds—was determined to put on a memorable show Saturday night against Gennadiy Golovkin.
The early reviews suggest he did just that. And then some.
Now 32, Alvarez sang a razor line at his two-time rival’s expense, beating the older man to the punch early and maintaining the pace late on the way to a clear unanimous decision. It instantly became the least-debated result in a trilogy spanning exactly five years and two days.
The two men fought to a split-decision draw in their first go-round in September 2017, then returned a year later to engage in 12 more nip-and-tuck rounds that ended with a majority nod for Alvarez.
Many boxing observers, not to mention Golovkin himself, insisted it could just as easily have been 2-0 in the Kazakh’s direction. This only added fuel to the fire for a third encounter in which pre-fight handshakes and pleasant greetings were eschewed for cold stares and promises of violent mayhem.
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And while it wasn’t exactly Gatti-Ward by the latter measure, Rounds 25-36 were still every bit as compelling as Rounds 1-24 had been for the pound-for-pound stalwarts whose power boxing skill sets, thirsts for
