American boxing legend Bernard Hopkins has given his prediction on how he thinks the trilogy fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17 will play out.
Hopkins believes Canelo Alvarez will end all talk around the controversy of his record against Gennadiy Golovkin when the two meet next month.
The two modern day greats will face off for a third time at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, the same venue as their first two fights.
Up for grabs is Canelo’s Undisputed Super Middleweight Title but winning the rivalry will mean just as much for the Mexican.
When asked about the fight by Little Giant Boxing, Hopkins said:
“Triple G is always one punch away from rebooting his career – he’s a puncher, that’s how he got here and that’s how he got exposed I believe by Canelo. I think there’s gonna be more blows coming from both sides.
“I’m picking Canelo by stoppage.”
‘The Executioner’ went on to say when he sees that stoppage occurring:
“I say about a seventh, possibly sixth round. I don’t see this being a fight that’s going to be exciting as the first two.
“I think this will be a clear, clear, decision that doesn’t go 12 rounds.
“So I am predicting that Canelo will find his groove and make it look even easier and then get a stoppage around the sixth or seventh round.”
If that wasn’t precise enough, the former two-weight world champion even predicted the exact shot Canelo would end the fight with:
“It looks like it’ll probably be a beat down – I think it’ll be a liver shot.”
Golovkin’s last outing saw him stop Ryota Murata inside nine rounds at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan in April to add the WBA Super world title at middleweight to his IBO and IBF titles.
Canelo goes into the fight on the back of only the second defeat of his career. The 32-year-old, who has won multiple world championships in four weight classes, lost to Russia’s Dmitry Bivol by unanimous decision when he challenged for the WBA title up at light-heavyweight back in May.