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Canelo vs. GGG: 5 reasons this is the fight boxing needs

By Luke Norris

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 19: Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin pose up 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 pose up 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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NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 20: Lineal
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 20: Lineal /

4. It’s all about the fight

Forgive me for once again bringing up the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor circus but that’s exactly what it was. I understand the need to promote a fight and build a fight with press conferences, especially when you’re going to charge people $100 for it, but that got out of control in a hurry. There were racial and homophobic slurs being thrown around and that’s not what boxing needs. It was an absolute embarrassment and downright sickening. Were there entertaining portions? Sure. But overall, it was really hard to get through.

Perhaps you’re looking at the picture above and saying to your screen, “Well, this guy put a picture of the press conference on this page so how can he be saying that’s it all about the fight?” That wasn’t an accident. The press conference is necessary to get things rolling and again, I fully understand the need for it. However, can the majority of you tell me one thing that happened that day? My guess is probably not, and just to put you at ease, I’ll tell you that I don’t either. Ever since this fight was announced, the focus has been on the actual fight, not the circus leading up to it, and that’s exactly what boxing needs.

Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Álvarez are two of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world today, and the press leading up to this fight has been about that. The talk has been about the skill sets of both fighters and not the paychecks they’re going to receive afterwards. The talk has been about Canelo breaking the undefeated streak of GGG, not about breaking pay-per-view records. Does boxing need viewers? Absolutely. But what boxing needs even more is a real fight that’s going to get people’s attention. The pay-per-view numbers aren’t going to be what they were for Mayweather and McGregor. They just aren’t. But hopefully, enough people are going to see this fight and realize that this sport still has amazing fighters. Or they’ll see some highlights afterwards that make them want to watch the next big fight that rolls around.

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