By: Sean Crose
It’s official. Canelo Alvarez and arch rival Gennady Golovkin will be fighting for a third time. Matchroom announced Tuesday that the match will go down on September 17th. “I feel very happy and proud to be able to give the best fights and this fight won’t be an exception,” Canelo says via press release. Although he lost to Dmitry Bivol a few weeks back in a quest for Bivol’s light heavyweight title, Canelo is still arguably the biggest draw in boxing. And since the first two fights between himself and Golovkin were controversial, Canelo can expect much attention to be given to this third go-round.
“The Canelo vs. GGG trilogy is the biggest fight in boxing and I am delighted to get this made for September 17,” states promoter Eddie Hearn. “These are two men that bitterly dislike each other and want to end this incredible series with a blistering KO.” Being a promoter, Hearn is making sure to go out of his way to hype the match up. “I truly believe this will be the most thrilling fight between these two great champions,” he says, “and it will be fireworks from the first bell to the last man standing.”
No location has been given for the fight yet, though Vegas seems like a shoe-in. “Both (previous) fights took place in the T-Mobile Arena,” Matchroom’s press release states, “and while a venue for the trilogy bout will be revealed soon, what is in no doubt is that it will be the hottest ticket in sport when these two foes dance for the third and decisive time.”
Canelo’s recent loss might well help boost the financial prospects and relevance of this match. A mere month ago, Canelo-Golovkin 3 looked like it might be old news. Golovkin is no longer in his prime, after all. What’s more, he doesn’t fight much these days. Coupled with the fact that Canelo was recently looking invincible, and a third Canelo-Golovkin fight seemed like a foregone conclusion. Now fans might not be so sure. Add in the fact many, if not most, feel Golovkin won the first fight between the two men, and the chance to see a rubber match becomes far more intriguing.
“Let’s push ahead without going backwards,” Canelo’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso says. “A Mexican never surrenders, let’s push forward.” Unlike the first two Canelo-Golovkin matches, which went down at middleweight, this fight will be held in the super middleweight division. That’s something Golovkin doesn’t appear take issue with. “I hope to see you on September 17,” he says simply.
