Middleweight supremacy is on the line tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. WBA-WBC-IBF champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) puts his titles at stake against Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs), who is technically the lineal champion based off of his win over Miguel Cotto. If Mayweather vs. McGregor was the event of the year, then Canelo vs. GGG is the unquestioned best fight of the year. Fans are expecting a classic between these two entertaining boxers, and that’s ideally what we see tonight in front of a huge worldwide audience.
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Bloody Elbow is here to provide you with detailed, round-by-round coverage and running commentary of tonight’s super fight. The undercard is… not good, so we’re only doing play-by-play for the main event, which is supposed to start somewhere around 10:50 PM ET/7:50 PM PT. HBO’s PPV broadcast kicks off at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, so plan accordingly if you want to watch this and UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Branch, which is airing at the same time.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin
Round 1 – Here we go! Golovkin starts on the front foot and jabs. Loud Triple-G chants ring around the arena as GGG misses on a right hand. Canelo misses on the counter. GGG continues to jab and now Canelo jabs back. Body shot and a jab for Alvarez. Right hand clips Canelo. Golovkin’s jab is there but he misses on the right. Alvarez with a nice right and he backs GGG up. Good jab by Canelo. Golovkin with two more jabs. 10-9 GGG.
Round 2 – The Canelo! chants are now loud and clear. First clinch of the fight and it’s quickly broken up. Left hook lands for Alvarez. They trade jabs and then Canelo jabs to the body. Slapping left hook is blocked by GGG. Decent combo by Canelo and he lands a left hook. GGG unable to connect on an uppercut. This is a good Canelo round. Good exchange on the inside by both men. 19-19.
Round 3 – Three-punch combo by Golovkin. Pace is quickening and GGG scores with a jab. Right hand to the body by Canelo. Another left hook to the body by Canelo. Bayless says to keep the shots up. There’s a left hook by GGG. He’s short on the straight right. Body shot by Canelo is blocked. Misses with the left but lands with the right. Two jabs by GGG. Left hook is blocked but not the second one for GGG. Canelo doubles up to the body. Uppercut by Canelo! Right hand scores for GGG. Flush left hook by Golovkin. 29-28 Canelo.
Round 4 – Two good jabs by Alvarez. GGG misses on two power shots. Uppercut and a body shot by GGG. Sweeping body shot by Canelo. The Mexican evades a right hand. Golovkin lets his hands go with Canelo up against the ropes! Right hand by GGG and Canelo shakes his head! Alvarez gets tagged with a left. Nice right hand sneaks through for Golovkin. Canelo answers back with one but I think it missed. Jab by GGG. This is a Golovkin round. 38-38.
Round 5 – Golovkin with a check hook. Nice left by Canelo. Golovkin continues flicking the jab. He misses a series of shots against the ropes. Golovkin is being more aggressive. Two lefts by Golovkin and a rare clinch. Canelo with a body shot on the break. Uppercut by Golovkin. Straight right answered by Canelo. Hard right hand by Golovkin, who shakes his head again! Golovkin with a left. He whiffs with a right. Canelo misfires on a right. Alvarez walks forward with a three-punch combo but maybe one landed. Right hand by Golovkin. Nice body shot by Canelo. 48-47 Golovkin.
Round 6 – Right hand lands for Golovkin. He’s teeing off against the ropes. Canelo just misses on an uppercut. He lands on one and then a left to the body. Great combo by Alvarez. Left hook to the body again. Right hand by Canelo is blocked. Golovkin with the jab. They trade jabs again. Canelo threw a glove behind GGG’s back in a clinch. GGG off-target on a haymaker of a right. Left hook upstairs and then a right downstairs by GGG. Jab and body shot but it was low according to Kenny Bayless. A 1-2 by GGG but Canelo lands a good shot. An overhand right by Canelo. Left hook by Golovkin against the ropes. Canelo evades a right. The fight is halfway over and I have it 58-56 Golovkin.
Round 7 – These two are letting their hands go early in the 7th. Nice uppercut by Canelo. Right hand catches Alvarez. Nice sweeping right by Golovkin, who is doing much of the pressuring. Canelo with a right against the ropes. Stiff jab by GGG. Three-punch combo by GGG. Uppercut grazes Canelo. Good counter uppercut by Alvarez! Body shot by Canelo. GGG ends the round with another jab. 68-65 Golovkin.
Round 8 – Good combo by Golovkin! Canelo may have been bothered by that. Body shot by Canelo. Inside right hand is there for the Kazakh. Right hand by Canelo doesn’t even bother GGG. Another body shot by Canelo as they square off in the middle of the ring. Good left to the liver by Canelo as GGG is off on an uppercut. Counter left on the inside for Canelo. Again Canelo is just able to avoid a powerful right hand. Great uppercut by Canelo! GGG is walking through it though. Canelo with a great body shot. GGG with a stinging jab and a right to the body. 78-74 Golovkin.
Round 9 – Canelo with a four-punch combo capped off with a left to the body. Most were not coming through. Alvarez is the aggressor in the opening 30 seconds. Two hard right hands by Golovkin and Canelo may have been buzzed! They trade big shots and GGG gets clipped, too! Another right by Golovkin. Nearly landing the left hook over the top. Right hand does connect. Left hook by Alvarez but GGG with a right. A big right! Golovkin has an amazing chin. Double jab and a right hand by Golovkin. Canelo lunges forward with a left hook. Canelo back against the ropes again. GGG is bullying him a bit. Now connects on an uppercut! Canelo with a three-punch combo but GGG walks him down again and lands one more shot. 88-83 Golovkin.
Round 10 – Alvarez misses on a left, lands an uppercut. He has a little bit of a rally here as GGG is not throwing much here. Big shot by Canelo! Did Golovkin go off-balance? GGG fires back in a big way! This is a fight! Left hook and a right hand by GGG! They nearly butt heads. Golovkin back to jabbing Canelo up like crazy. Stiff right by Golovkin snaps Canelo’s head back. Action finally slows. Canelo is looking tired. Like he spent his best in the early part of the round. Huge shots for Golovkin! Canelo is returning with major shots! What a round!I think Canelo may have edged it on the first-half of the 10th, though. 97-93 Golovkin.
Round 11 – Sniping right by Canelo. Golovkin continues to be on the offensive. Hard jab by Golovkin and then a right to the body and it was low. Nice body shot on the belt line by Canelo. Neither man landing too many telling shots. Good right hand by Canelo. A left hook by Golovkin and a right hand. Beautiful jab by GGG. There’s a heavy right-left by GGG. Hard uppercut and a left hook by Golovkin! Great fight. 107-102 Golovkin.
Round 12 – They hug as the final round begins. That’s a sharp right by Canelo! I think Canelo needs a KO and he’s going for it. Good right by Canelo but GGG answers back with a series of power shots to the head and Canelo has been backed off. Golovkin works behind his jab and he is scoring cleanly against the ropes. Canelo trying to back him off with a left. 45 seconds to go. Both men score with quality punches. Left hook by GGG but a right uppercut by Canelo! Ten seconds to go. Hard right hand by GGG! Canelo avoids the final two punches and that’s it! What a great battle. They both raise their arms. 117-111 Golovkin.
Official result: 118-110 Canelo (!!!!!), 115-113 GGG, 114-114 to end in a split draw
Undercard results
Joseph Diaz Jr. (25-0, 13 KOs) d.ef Rafael Rivera (25-0-2, 16 KOs)by unanimous decision (119-109, 119-109, 120-108) – 12 rounds, featherweights (126 lbs)
Diego De La Hoya (20-0, 9 KOs) def. Randy Caballero (24-1, 14 KOs) by unanimous decision (100-90, 98-92, 98-92) – 10 rounds, super bantamweights (122 lbs)
Ryan Martin (20-0, 11 KOs) def. Francisco Rojo (19-3, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision (91-98, 96-93, 95-94) – 10 rounds, lightweights (135 lbs)
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