The Blueprint for Boxing's Next Superfight: Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin
Let’s face it, people. The Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao superfight, the one boxing fans waited for six long years to see and the one that captivated the entire sporting world over the weekend was a big, fat disappointment.
It was a dud.
Mayweather defeated Pacquiao by unanimous decision on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in front of some of the glitziest glamour ever to surround a boxing ring. The high-dollar crowd was littered with celebrity faces, and the fight was as such a big deal that it apparently wrecked cable systems all over the world with overload because so many people were buying the pay-per-view at the same time.
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Nothing is bigger and better than a big fight, and Mayweather-Pacquiao was the biggest of them all.
But the fight itself, the very thing that makes boxing what it is, was a huge letdown. It was just plain lousy. Mayweather was his usual incredibly effective but incessantly boring self and Pacquiao was either neutered by his opponent’s exceptional defense, hindered by an injury to his right shoulder or some combination of both.
The fight was boring.
But there remains hope in the near future for another big fight night in boxing, one that all fans would actually enjoy watching after the bell rang, both astute followers of the sweet science as well as first-time, casual onlookers.
If you have high hopes of such a superfight in the near future, cross your fingers for a middleweight showdown between rising star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and middleweight monster Gennady Golovkin.
The fight wouldn’t quite be a superfight if it was signed today, but one can easily see how it might become the next big thing in boxing.
And trust me, it’d be better than Mayweather-Pacquiao.
Alvarez is already a star. He has a legion of fight fans behind him, thanks to his exciting style and Mexican heritage. The 24-year-old from Juanacatlán, Mexico has risen to the occasion in every single outing to date, save the blockbuster PPV bout he lost to Mayweather in 2013 by unanimous decision, a challenge he probably would have been wise to avoid.
But that’s the thing: Alvarez didn’t avoid it. He took on Mayweather when he wasn’t quite ready, throwing away the modern notion in the sport that protecting one’s record is better than testing oneself. Alvarez chose the latter, signaling an adherence to the old school values fight fans most respect.
Alvarez lost, but he learned from it. It made him a better fighter. If you don’t believe it, go back and watch how differently he fought Erislandy Lara in 2014 than he did Mayweather the year prior. Against the latter, Alvarez foolishly tried to outbox a master boxer.
Dumb move.
But against Lara, a slick fighter with a similar style, Alvarez stalked forward aggressively and threw combinations. He hit anything he could, however he could do it, and the tactic earned him a split decision win over a crafty fighter no one else in the division wanted to fight.
And the blemish on Alvarez’s record didn’t affect his marketability in the least. He remains the premier fighter in Oscar De La Hoya’s stable at Golden Boy Promotions, and was lured back from Showtime to HBO to become the face of the HBO Boxing franchise for years to come.
But a superfight takes two, and Alvarez needs an opponent who can be the Pacquiao to his Mayweather (or vice versa).
Golovkin, the WBA middleweight champion, fits the bill. He is perhaps the scariest, most exciting fighter in boxing today. The 33-year-old from Kazakhstan has knocked out 19 opponents in a row. He’s fast-becoming the middleweight Mike Tyson of his generation, one who is increasingly becoming a must-watch superstar.
There’s just something about Golovkin that resonates with people. He’s charming to fans and media. His smile seems genuine and delightful. He’s the kind of guy you’d want your daughter to date, except that he’s also the kind of guy who enjoys bludgeoning people with his fists for money.
In fact, he excels at it.
Moreover, Golovkin is absolutely excellent at his craft. Yes, he stalks forward as a pressure fighter, but he does so with the same type of surgical precision that Mayweather uses for defense. Golovkin is an action star, one incapable of being in a lousy fight.
Don’t get me wrong. He might be in short fights. He’s too strong and too aggressive for most opponents to stand in front of him for very long, and if someone is able to hand him a loss it might be because the opponent was brave and powerful enough to separate him from his senses.
But he’s never in lousy ones.
That’s the thing about the recent superfight. It was lousy. It doesn’t matter why. Maybe Mayweather was just too good. Maybe Pacquiao was just too injured. Maybe these guys are just a bad matchup.
Who cares?
Alvarez-Golovkin wouldn’t be. That's the point. And while the fight shouldn’t quite be made yet, it’s at least something to look forward to seeing someday. It’s perhaps even worth rooting for at this point, because it’s not difficult to envision how it could come to be.
Alvarez would need to take care of business against James Kirkland this week. He’d then need to secure a fight against Miguel Cotto for the lineal and WBC middleweight titles, something that already fell through once this year, and do the same.
And it wouldn’t hurt if Golovkin used that time to clean out the middleweight division. He faces Willie Monroe Jr. on May 16. Knocking him out and seeking unification bouts after against WBO champion Andy Lee and whoever ends up with Jermain Taylor’s recently stripped IBF title would make a bout against Alvarez one for all of the titles a middleweight could possibly hope to possess.
Regardless of title belts, though, the fight would be appealing to most everyone who watched it. Alvarez has continued to improve and seems on the verge of elite status. Golovkin is already there. Both of these guys like to rumble.
Elite vs. elite. Popular fighter vs. popular fighter. Alvarez vs. Golovkin. It's a superfight that wouldn't end up being lousy.
Yes, please.
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