Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin: Live Blog, Round-by-Round Analysis, Updates
Parting words
And most will come from others, not me. Like the fighters, I'm in need of a shower and a couple of cold ones.
But, a couple of things need to be said.
As noted several times already in this blog, scoring is so subjective. You see this, I see that. I get it. I had GGG winning 115-113. I could live with Canelo winning. He fought a good fight.
But I can't help but wonder how anyone, especially a trained judge, could see that fight as a 118-110 win for Canelo, giving GGG only the fourth and seventh rounds. To these old eyes, GGG owned the 6th-10th.
I'm not alone in this. My colleague Chris Chavez took to Twitter and rounded up a collection of tweets that weren't very complimentary of Adalaide Byrd's scoring.
Chris, who did work, real work, also put together a post about Byrd's interesting history.
What did you think? Get at me on Twitter and let me know what you think. And if you've followed along this long, I appreciate it. This was fun.
Like GGG-Canelo, we need to do it again.
And the winner is—no one
What I think, what we in this room think, doesn't really matter. Several writers I respect had it the same way I did (7 rounds GGG, 5 Canelo) but that means nothing.
What do the judges think?
And they think: A draw. Wow.
One judge had it 118-110 for Canelo. No way.
Another had it 115-113 for GGG (so did I).
The other had it 114-114.
A draw.
Boo.
GGG is now 37-0-1 and Canelo is 49-1-2.
Round Twelve
Canelo came out firing, likely agreeing that he needed to put GGG down for the count to win. These might be the two best fighters going and we'll say it now before we know the official result: We'd love to see it again. Round to Canelo for being aggressive, match to GGG for being a better fighter, albeit barely, on this night.
GGG 115.113.
Round Eleven
At least according to the way we've scored it here so far, Canelo needs a knockout at this point to win. He has to take some chances at this point, doesn't he? He's spent the entire second half of the fight backing up and on the ropes. As one of the TV commentators said, he's landing punches. Just not enough. This round goes to him, he landed the better shots but GGG has control of the pacing and only needs to stay on his feet in the 12th. Though who knows what the judges there think?
GGG 106-103.
Round Ten
Somebody clearly told Canelo to wake up and get going and he did. A tremendous round, a lot of action. But GGG is still controlling the ring. This was Canelo's best round in the second half of the fight but it still goes to GGG.
GGG 97-93
Round Nine
Maybe it is just me, who knows? But Canelo seemed to spend a lot of time backing up in that round and I don't know how you beat a guy like GGG backing up. A lesser fighter would be on the floor by now, for sure. But this is six rounds in a row for GGG and time's running out.
GGG 87-84.
Round Eight
Canelo rebounded a little bit and got in a very good shot late. GGG wasn't as dominant as he was in the previous couple of rounds but he remained in control. He's made it a GGG fight, which it wasn't in the early rounds. It isn't over yet but Canelo better get busy.
GGG 77-75.
Round Seven
GGG's best round thus far. He's took control of the round from the start, though he didn't land as many punches as he might have against a lesser opponent. He's in the lead now (barely) but hardly out of the woods.
GGG 67-66.
Round Six
Halfway through and it is shaping up as a great fight that will live up to its hype. These guys are good. After losing (at least in the opinion of this room) the first three, GGG has come back to take the next three. He's relentless and chants of "GGG" are getting louder.
All even: 57-57.
Round Five
Best action of the fight so far. Canelo is hanging tough but do you want to be on the ropes a lot against a guy like GGG? Seven more rounds like that and they both will need help to climb out of the ring. GGG seemed to land the best shot, this round is awfully close.
Canelo 48-47
Round Four
GGG's best round, though not by a lot. Canelo, by the way, seems to be getting a little cocky, which may work but could also lead to trouble. GGG is not a guy you want to get cute against.
Canelo. 39-37.
Round Three
GGG came out a little more aggressive and tried to assert control. Canelo simply wouldn't let him. Through three rounds, he's been in command of the fight. This might have been his best round and the first two were pretty good.
Canelo 30-27.
Round Two
Pretty much a carbon copy of the first round. GGG is working hard to find a way to get a solid punch through, and it isn't happening yet. He hit Canelo with a nice right cross but it seemed in this room like Canelo dictated the action for most of the round.
Canelo 20-18.
Round One
Finally, fighting.
Well, sort of. A typical feeling-out first round. A lot of noise from the crowd, not a ton of action in the ring. But Canelo seemed to be a little more aggressive and if there's an edge, it is his way and slight.
Canelo 10-9.
Only a Nats fan would know this
And I'm not totally sure. But I'm pretty sure GGG's entrance music (The White Stripes) was also what Stephen Strasburg used to use as his warm-up music. The crowd at T-Mobile Arena seems to be pretty pro-Canelo but I liked GGG's entrance a little better.
And now that they're in the ring, let's get to the fighting, huh?
Celebrity watch
The celebrities love their boxing, or at least to be seen at boxing matches.
Predictions revisited
So as the undercard winds down, the discussion in the SI.com GGG-Canelo war room has turned to predictions. Five of us in here now, two of us took part in the predictions part listed below. Just for yuks:
Yours truly - GGG by decision
Khadrice Rollins - Canelo by decision
Chris Chavez - GGG by decision (and rumor has it there's a betting slip to prove it)
Erick Rasco - Canelo by decision
Gino Zarrillo - GGG by knockout (10th round).
Who you got? Go into our predictions post and cast your ballot.
If you have to ask
You probably can't afford it. But there are some nice drinks on this menu.
The drink of choice at the SI.com office? Chris Chavez and Khadrice Rollins have water, the old guy (me) has iced tea and Gino The Social Media Maven is crushing Red Bulls like a champ.
‘Let’s Get Ready to Rumbbbbbbllllleeeeee’
I could listen to Michael Buffer all night. It isn’t boxing without him on the ring microphone. Great voice and I love his classic line.
Years ago, I heard a radio station do an interview with Buffer where they asked him to take everyday phrases and apply his magic touch. Let’s get ready for schooooooollll. What’s for dinnnnneeerrrrrr?? How are you doooiinnnnggggg??
It was every bit as awesome as you’d expect.
GGG's stuff is laid out and he's ready
The betting windows are open
Fluffyguy is in the Canelo camp, he has the betting slip to prove it.
More about scoring
Case in point about scoring (see below): Ryan Martin won the first bout on the undercard by a split decision over Francisco Rojo. The two judges who had Martin winning had it close (95-94 and 96-93). The judge who had Rojo winning saw it as a very one-sided bout (98-91). That's a stunning difference and, we assume, they were watching the same fight.
For what it may be worth, those of us watching in the SI.com offices had Martin winning narrowly as well.
GGG's in the house
I don't know art, but I know what I like
And I don't know if I like the one on the bottom.
Canelo's in the house
A note about scoring
It’s very subjective. There’s something you didn’t know.
I covered my first back fight a million years ago. Well, 1993, it only seems like a million years. Pernell Whitaker was fighting Julio Cesar Chavez in San Antonio. Seated next to me was one of the judges from a fight on the undercard. He patiently explained a few basics to me. In short, he said, you are trying to determine who controlled the round. Who dictated the action?
That said, you and I could watch the same round and come away thinking different fighters set the pace. And neither of us would be wrong. I’ll try to “score” the GGG-Canelo fight but it is far from official. I could type “Canelo’s round” while all three judges in Vegas check off GGG on their cards.
A lot of boxers don’t trust a lot of judges and that’s why they want to finish it before it goes to the cards. On the night of that Whitaker fight in 1993, I turned to my new friend before the final round and said this doesn’t seem close to me. It’s not, he said. “I have it nine rounds for Whitaker and two for Chavez.”
The judges, somehow, called it a draw and that led to this classic SI cover:
Will Hart
Speaking of Chavez
My friend Fred Sturnburg sent me this picture of Chavez’s prediction:
Hail yes
Also while we wait, a reminder that on a Boxing Saturday in the fall, there's also a little college football.
If you're a Florida fan, you'll love this clip. If you're a Tennessee fan, you won't like it quite as much. Take a look and then turn your attention back to boxing.
Our boss here at SI.com, the esteemed Ryan Hunt, is a Florida grad so we're happy to count him among the happy.
Cruising through Twitter while we wait
Just for yuks and to kill a little time while we wait, a quick pass through the wonderful world that is Twitter
And from our friends at OddsShark, still time to get a bet down (for entertainment only of course).
In case you were wondering
Sugar Ray Leonard says Canelo-GGG is bigger than the Super Bowl. Uh, uh, uh. No offense Sugar Ray but let's not get carried away. It's big yes. It isn't bigger than the Super Bowl.
A quick personal note
I got a chuckle out of the tweet below sent by my friend Josh Sanchez after my tweet about the very existence of this blog.
Many years ago, when my now-adult son was only four, I called him from the road. I was in Salt Lake City this time, covering the NCAA tournament. I told him I had to work today but would be home tomorrow.
"Are you working or watching basketball?" he said.
Hey, man, that IS the work. Tonight, I'm watching boxing. That IS the work!
Welcome to the live blog
Finally, it is fight night. Let’s do this! Stay with us throughout the night for all kinds of stuff related to the Gennady “GGG” Golovkin vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez middleweight fight. The boxers are doing the hard work and they'll put on a show at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. We’re going to have some fun.
We’ll get this live blog started now, and my colleague Luis Miguel Echegaray is doing the same thing in Spanish. Like the fighters, we’ll then take a bit of a break before we crank up later. Stay with us while you watch and, if you can’t watch, get a glimpse here of what is going on in the ring. And by glimpse, I mean my random thoughts (which by the end of the night may leave you thinking I got knocked out).
Until the fight begins and we get going in earnest, check out some of the stories we did this week.
Here’s Greg Bishop after spending a day with GGG at training camp.
Here’s Greg again after spending the day with Canelo.
Here’s that same story on Canelo in Spanish, translated by Luis.
Here’s our predictions column, which includes a poll. Go vote. GGG is getting most of the love.
Boxing isn’t a hit with everyone (I just read that and, wow, weak. I didn’t do it on purpose, honest). Given the increased attention on head injuries across all sports, boxing has come under more scrutiny. My colleague Jack Dickey wrote an interesting column that, even if you don’t agree, should make you think.
The Tale of the Tape, put together by Khadrice Rollins.
Enjoy this excellent photo gallery to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
Get all that read, get hydrated, get ready. This is going to be a great fight and a great night. The fight is available on pay-per-view via HBO Boxing. If you don't want to pony up or just want some commentary and to have some fun while you watch, follow along here.
The fight is expected to start around 11 p.m. ET, though boxing start times are usually just best guesses.
Golovkin is defending his middleweight title for the 19th time. He's considered the favorite, though the defensive–minded Alvarez, who has just one loss in his career, will be a tough match.
