By Radio Rahim
Former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi saw IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) as the clear winner of last year's showdown with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs).
The contest, which took place last September at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, concluded after twelve rounds with a controversial split draw. The scores were 118-110 for Canelo, 115-113 for Golovkin and 114-114 for the draw.
Now the rematch is scheduled for May 5th, on HBO Pay-Per-View, at a location to be determined in the near future.
There has been a lot of debate regarding the outcome, but Malignaggi saw Golovkin as the clear winner of the bout.
Because of that, he says Canelo will really have to prove himself in the second fight.
"I felt Golovkin won. I felt Golovkin won the fight pretty convincingly. Having said that, it was a good fight, it generated a lot of opinions on it, it generated a lot of hype, so sure you have to do it again based on the result," Malignaggi told BoxingScene.com.
"Golovkin is at an age where every six months he's getting a little older, and Canelo is at an age where every six months he might be getting a little better. It will be interesting to see. They've both shown that they can be dangerous to one another. I think Golovkin showed more consistency in that fight and he should go in as the favorite in this fight. If Canelo can get a statement win, you have to give him credit for that.
"I think right now Canelo has a lot to prove, because Golovkin won that fight and it was taken from him."
A lot of experts and industry personalities are now siding with Canelo to win the rematch, and many of them are picking the Mexican superstar to do it by knockout.
"Anything is possible. Both guys are big punchers and both are highly skilled, so anything is possible," Malignaggi said.
