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Canelo vs GGG 2 results: Alvarez edges Golovkin by majority decision

You can probably pencil in the third fight for May 2019.

Gennady Golovkin v Canelo Alvarez Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

More controversy.

In a fight that may have topped the first for action and drama, Canelo Alvarez edged out a majority decision win over Gennady Golovkin, taking the WBA and WBC middleweight titles at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Official scores were 114-114, and 115-113 on two cards for Canelo. BLH scored the fight 114-114 on one card and 116-112 Golovkin on another. It’s worth noting that one judge gave Alvarez the 12th round, which is very debatable, and that ultimately tipped things to avoiding another draw between the two fighters.

Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KO) started pretty well in the bout, but Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KO), who was never really trailing by a ton or anything, put together an impressive rally in the second half of the fight, and made his mark as the fight went down the stretch.

It was hard to separate the two for much of the fight, probably even closer than their first bout, a much-derided draw a year ago.

“I’m very excited, I’m very emotional,” Alvarez said through a translator. “He’s a great fighter, but we tried to knock him out. In the end, we took this victory for Mexico.” He added, “He was connecting on punches, but they were few and far between.”

Asked if he’d fight Golovkin again, Canelo said, “If the people want another fight, we’ll do it again.”

Golovkin left the ring and did not do an in-ring interview, which isn’t that surprising, as no doubt he and his team feel they won the fight. We’ll surely hear from him soon enough.

By CompuBox numbers, Golovkin outlanded Alvarez (234-202) overall, and threw more (879-622), too. But Alvarez did have a 143-116 edge in power punches, as much of Golovkin’s landed totals came from a jab that he pumped out pretty consistently. Alvarez had a higher overall connect percentage (32-27%) and higher power punch connect percentage (39-35%). Golovkin outjabbed Canelo, 118-59.

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