Canelo Alvarez: Fight with Gennady Golovkin Can Be ‘One of the Best in History’

Though most of the fight world is focused on the ballyhooed megafight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor later this month, those who follow the fight game know that arguably the best possible boxing clash takes place on Sep. 16.

Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will square off against Kazakhstani powerhouse Gennady Golovkin, a matchup of the two best middleweights on the planet. The two will collide at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the action broadcast to the masses live via HBO Pay Per View and on Tuesday afternoon, Canelo spoke with assembled media via conference call.

One of the sticking points going into this fight is the fact that “GGG” is not only undefeated with brutal punching power, it’s that the Mexican’s fists aren’t as lethal as his foe’s. Many boxing insiders are likely underestimating Canelo’s punching power, or least cooking up that narrative, but the Guadalajara native doesn’t necessarily buy into it, especially when asked if Team Golovkin could be ignoring Saul’s striking.

“I don't think they're underestimating my power,” he told the media. “I think both the fans know and you guys know that the styles, we both have attractive styles. And we're both going to fight a fight where anybody can win by knockout. We both have the power to win by knockout. But that's what makes for a great fight, and I think that's what makes it an attractive fight for the fans.

“Obviously anything can happen in boxing,” he added. “Anything can happen at any point, at any time, more so when both fighters can punch, when they both have punching power. You know, you can have a fighter that might not be a big puncher, but if he connects that perfect punch at the right spot, he can knock down anybody. So yes, of course it can happen. It can happen because of the amount of punching power both fighters have.”

The middleweight division in boxing has been arguably the most important division outside of heavyweight. There are numerous memorable 160-pound fights: Hagler-Hearns, Fullmer-Basilio, Zale-Graziano 1 and 2, Greb-Walker, Hopkins-Trinidad and countless others have all gone down as classics. Will Canelo’s showdown with Golovkin join the ranks with those all-time great battles?

“Yes, without a doubt this can be one of the best fights in history,” he said. “On paper, obviously it's going to rival some of those big fights that you mentioned, but it really depends how the fight comes out, how it pans out. I'm going to do my part to make it memorable so I can go down in history as one of the best fights. I know that for sure. I'm going to do my part. But yeah, it can easily be considered one of the best fights in history.”

Canelo (49-1-1, 34 KOs) suffered the lone defeat of his career when he was a much younger man taking on a prime Floyd Mayweather Jr. In that fight, Mayweather out-boxed him over 12 rounds for the WBC and WBA junior middleweight titles, but since then, Alvarez has grown into one of the best fighters in the world. The old saying goes that one learns more from a loss than a win and Alvarez agrees.

“I've definitely learned a lot,” he stated. “I have more experience now. I feel more confident. I'm more of a mature fighter now. Obviously not just that fight, but the fights that followed have got me to this point. But yes, I've changed and I learned from it, and I just feel I'm more of a complete fighter now. I have more experience, and the confidence is probably the one thing that I can point out the most.”