Canelo Alvarez agrees to rematch Gennady Golovkin, but will age be a factor?
With a rematch reportedly booked with Canelo Alvarez, will Gennady Golovkin’s age be more of a factor the second time around?
Last September, Gennady Golovkin fought Canelo Alvarez to a highly controversial draw. The fight was close, but Golovkin outworked and out-landed Alvarez. Golovkin threw 703 punches to Alvarez’s 505 according to CompuBox. He also landed 49 more punches than Alvarez. People have to question if an aging Golovkin can produce this kind of output against the significantly younger Alvarez.
Lance Pugmire of the L.A. Times was the first to report that Alvarez has reached an agreement to square off against Golovkin in a rematch in 2018. Details regarding date and location are sparse, but rumors are that it will take place on May 5 to cash in on Alvarez’s Mexican heritage and fanbase on Cinco de Mayo.
Their first match took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but Pugmire reports that Madison Square Garden is a possible location for the rematch. “While it’s long been assumed that T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where the fighters first met, will host the rematch, Gomez [Golden Boy President] said Madison Square Garden is expected to make a strong offer,” reported Pugmire.
If the fight took place at Madison Square Garden, then Golovkin might have a slight advantage. He’s fought there five times and has an established fansbase. Alvarez has never fought at Madison Square Garden. He would still bring in fans, but he might not be as comfortable with his surroundings.
Golovkin performed admirably in their first fight. Judge Don Trella scored the bout a draw, but Dave Morretti scored the bout 115-113 in favor of Golovkin. Judge Adalaide Byrd scored it 118-110 for Alvarez, which created a sweeping controversy considering how close the contest appeared to fans, the other judges and CompuBox scoring.
Golovkin’s last two bouts have been extremely close on the scorecards. He outpointed Daniel Jacobs last March via unanimous decision, but two cards were 115-112 and the third was 114-113. Golovkin is 35 years old, which is considered old for a boxer.
He’s taking more punishment with each fight. He might appear to be taking more punishment because he has faced tougher opposition, or age might be starting to take its toll on his reflexes. Golovkin will be 36 if he fights Alvarez on May 5. Alvarez would be two months away from his 28th birthday.
Golovkin’s last dominant performance was in 2016 when he stopped Kell Brook in round five. Brook came up two weight classes to fight Golovkin, so Golovkin had a significant size advantage. Brook landed a number of clean punches on Golovkin, but he suffered a broken orbital bone which forced him to quit in the third.
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Golovkin needs to fight at a furious pace if he wants to beat the younger Alvarez, but his age will be his biggest enemy. He will try to fight Father Time and Canelo Alvarez at the same time the second time around. This will be be another pay-per-view smash.