Fansided

5 reasons Canelo-GGG will be Fight of the Year

By Nick Tylwalk

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 19: Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin go head to head after the Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin boxing press conference at the Landmark Hotel on June 19, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 19: Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin go head to head after the Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin boxing press conference at the Landmark Hotel on June 19, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images) /
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When Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin collide in Las Vegas, there’s every reason to think that it could live up to the hype — but let’s start with these five.

In boxing, more than any other sport, there’s a tendency to make everything seem larger than life and every championship bout feel like it could be the Fight of the Year, Decade or even Century. Rarely is this actually the case, but Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin is positioned to be the exception that proves the rule.

The timing couldn’t be more ironic, as the bout comes just weeks after the spectacle that was Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor. While that fight delivered financially and (perhaps surprisingly) in terms of entertainment value, boxing purists were always in the background yelling about how Canelo-GGG was what fans really were waiting to see.

Unlike some bouts whose only claim to legendary status lies in the mind of its promoter, Canelo-GGG has a chance to make good on its promise. Here are the top reasons why that’s true.

NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 20: Canelo Alvarez, Oscar De La Hoya, Gennady Golovkin and Bernard Hopkins on stage during the Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin press conference at Madsion Square Garden June 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 20: Canelo Alvarez, Oscar De La Hoya, Gennady Golovkin and Bernard Hopkins on stage during the Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin press conference at Madsion Square Garden June 20, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images) /

Something to prove

It’s rare to make it to the top of the sport like Canelo and GGG have and not have lost at least a little bit of hunger. Success breeds complacency sometimes, even in champions.

Good thing, then, that for all of their victories, world championships and accomplishments, that Alvarez and Golovkin each have something they’d like to put behind him. For Canelo, it’s his one-sided defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather. No shame, certainly, in losing to the finest boxing technician of his time, but it wasn’t even competitive, and Alvarez can only truly erase that memory with a win on the biggest possible stage.

Golovkin’s moment of weakness came more recently, in his past outing against Daniel Jacobs. Faced with a trickier boxer than most of his previous foes, GGG looked a little shakier than accustomed, failing to stop Jacobs and winning a narrow unanimous decision that some observers felt he didn’t deserve.

Motivation can be a glorious thing, and both boxers should have plenty of it when they hit the ring in T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night.

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