Canelo: Winner Between Me & Golovkin Could Become No. 1 P4P
By Keith Idec
According to Canelo Alvarez, middleweight titles won’t be the only signs of respect at stake when he challenges Gennady Golovkin.
The Mexican superstar also believes the winner of their September 16 fight in Las Vegas could make a strong case for having earned the top spot on pound-for-pound lists.
“The fans and a lot of the media people have said that,” Alvarez said through a translator during a recent conference call. “Obviously, that’s what they’re saying. They’re saying [this is] possibly the two best fighters in the world fighting each other. I would agree and I think the winner should be recognized potentially as the best fighter in the world.”
The 35-year-old Golovkin has knocked out 89 percent of his opponents (37-0, 33 KOs) and has won 23 of his past 24 bouts by knockout or technical knockout. The WBA/WBC/IBF/IBO middleweight champion is ranked No. 6 on BoxingScene.com’s pound-for-pound list, No. 2 by The Ring magazine and No. 2 by ESPN.com.
The 27-year-old Alvarez is 49-1-1, including 34 knockouts, and has lost only to Floyd Mayweather Jr. during his 11-year pro career. The undefeated Mayweather (49-0, 26 KOs), who beat Alvarez by majority decision in their 12-round junior middleweight match nearly four years ago in Las Vegas, is generally regarded as the best boxer of this era.
Alvarez, a two-time 154-pound champion and former WBC middleweight champion, is ranked No. 7 on BoxingScene.com’s pound-for-pound list, No. 8 by The Ring magazine and No. 5 by ESPN.com.
Andre Ward (32-0, 16 KOs), the IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion, is ranked No. 1 pound-for-pound by BoxingScene.com, The Ring and ESPN.com.
Kazakhstan’s Golovkin is a slight favorite over Alvarez (-155/+125) with about a month to go before their HBO Pay-Per-View main event at T-Mobile Arena.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
