Former two-time welterweight world champion Shawn Porter believes Gennadiy Golovkin must approach his trilogy with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez with a ‘bang-him-out’ attitude.
The pair’s first scrap, which peaked at 840,000 viewers on HBO, ended in a controversial split draw with many fans and pundits feeling that ‘GGG’ had done enough to take the win. The rematch brought with it another thrilling 12 rounds that left people struggling to choose a winner for a second time. Thankfully for Canelo, the judges weren’t as torn, and he claimed the victory via majority decision.
Porter, who is no stranger to an aggressive fighting style, discussed Golovkin’s chances in the third fight with Fight Hub TV.
“While I was feeling that he’s gotten older, and I don’t see him moving the same. All those types of things, I’m looking at it now like GGG has had a lot of time to download a lot of data, especially with Canelo’s last performance; there’s even more data for you to download and be prepared to do some different things in the ring.”
The last performance he’s referring to is Canelo’s jump to light heavyweight. The Mexican fighter ultimately lost the contest, and the chance at the WBA title, via unanimous decision to a composed and clinical Dmitry Bivol. Whilst it was a career defining performance for the Russian, it showed that Saul Alvarez, world champion in four weight classes, in his current form is beatable.
Still, does the fight favour the fresher man in Canelo? Porter seems to think that it does but insists there’s a path to victory for unified middleweight champion Golovkin, who is now 40.
“Let’s be honest; I don’t think he [Golovkin] can move the way he used to, and when I say ‘used to,’ I’m talking 2010, 2012 when GGG could move and box. He can’t do that anymore.”
“What that means is it’s unlikely you’re going to outbox Canelo. So, it’s going to be that bang-him-out game that it was before, but he’s just got to be smart about it and pick his points where he wants to dig deep. Does that lead to a knockout for him? It’s possible.”
Whilst excitement is palpable for the third, and surely final, fight between the pair, many feel that it’s coming frustratingly late in Golovkin’s already-stellar career. Porter, it seems, agrees.
Regardless, a full stop will be put on one of boxing’s greatest rivalries on September 17 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. UK and US fans can tune in via DAZN PPV.