Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez met in three massive fights over five years.
The first meeting took place back in September 2017, and ended in a controversial split decision draw, with many observers believing that Golovkin did enough to get the win.
A rematch took place 12 months later, and was once again another close affair, but Canelo was given a majority decision verdict by the judges to claim the win and hand Golovkin the first defeat of his professional career.
The two fighters then went their separate ways, with Canelo going on to win light heavyweight gold and become undisputed at super-middleweight, while Golovkin once again became unified middleweight champion.
Canelo and Golovkin then met for a third and final time in September 2022, with the Kazakh fighter stepping up to 168lbs to challenge his rival for his undisputed super-middleweight titles.
It was the most clear of the three fights, with Alvarez winning by unanimous decision, in what has proven to be Golovkin’s final fight to date, though he is yet to officially announce his retirement.
Having shared 36 rounds with the Mexican, there aren’t many fighters better equipped than Golovkin to comment on Canelo’s power, but he needed just two words to sum it up whilst speaking to DAZN.
“Wasn’t hard.”
Golovkin then expanded further, discussing a big right hand that Alvarez landed during their second encounter.
“I remember that punch. Well, I let it get through. You know it wasn’t, I don’t know what to call it, it wasn’t hard. It felt kind of like a slap I guess. A slap or a sliding punch. Well, it didn’t do too much.”
The man involved in making two of those fights between Canelo and Golovkin was Oscar De La Hoya, and he has named the man that he thinks will knock out his former protégé.
