Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin Rematch Discussions Reportedly Underway

Representatives for Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin are reportedly set to begin discussions this week about a potential rematch for the unified middleweight world boxing championship after they fought to a split draw at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

On Tuesday, Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reported Alvarez owns a rematch clause that must be exercised within three weeks, but Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez confirmed further talks with the Golovkin camp before invoking that right.

Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez told Rafael everybody involved was interested in the rematch in the immediate aftermath of Saturday's draw, but more substantial talks with GGG promoter Tom Loeffler are still to come.

"I spoke to Tom a few times, and he's certainly open to it after taking to his side, so we agreed to sit down later this week and start discussing it," Gomez said. "Obviously, we're going to give Canelo some time off and we'll start talking to him as well. Immediately after the fight everybody was open to a rematch. I feel it was such a great fight it deserves a rematch, even besides it being such a close fight."

Loeffler added: "Fans are demanding the rematch. They want a clear winner, which we thought was GGG. But I think Gennady and Canelo owe the fans the rematch and, frankly, for the sport of boxing to right to the bad decision we saw last Saturday. So I'll sit down with Eric. We had a preliminary conversation to touch base, and HBO definitely thinks we need to do an immediate rematch. They feel the event is red hot and everybody is talking about it."

The first meeting between the high-profile duo lived up to the hype. Two judges scored it extremely close—Dave Moretti went 115–113 for Golovkin, while Don Trella had a 114-144 draw—but Adalaide Byrd drew criticism for her 118-110 score in favor of Alvarez.

Nevada Athletic State Commission executive director Bob Bennett confirmed to Jack de Menezes of the Independent that Byrd would be taking a break following the performance.

"I'm not going to put her right back in. She'll still be in the business, but she needs to catch her breath," he said. "Like in any profession, you have a bad night. Unfortunately, she didn't do well. I can tell you she conducts training for us, takes judges under her wing, but her score was too wide."

The controversy overshadowed an otherwise entertaining battle between Alvarez and Golovkin. Now it appears boxing fans will be treated to an immediate rematch between the middleweight superstars, barring any setbacks during the contract talks starting this week.