SAN ANTONIO – Oscar De La Hoya envisions more greatness for the superstar he previously and proudly promoted for a decade.
The Hall of Fame former six-division champion and founder/chairman of Golden Boy Promotions believes Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will run the tables in his 2022 campaign, which could include a third fight with Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin. The two are on course to meet September 17, provided they both win their upcoming fights.
Their first two fights were razor thin, though the belief on the part of Alvarez’s former promoter is that time is no longer on the side of Kazakhstan’s Golovkin.
“I think Canelo knocks out Triple G in the third fight,” De La Hoya told BoxingScene.com while otherwise on site at the Alamodome to promote the Ryan Garcia-Emmanuel Tagoe DAZN headliner this Saturday. “Look, I promoted both fights (in 2017 and 2018). I think Triple G has lost a step or two since their [September 2018] rematch. That will be the difference when they meet again. I think Canelo beats him even easier this time and knocks him out.”
Guadalajara’s Alvarez (57-1-2, 39KOs) was considered fortunate to escape with a split-decision draw in his first fight with Golovkin in September 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Their rematch at the same venue exactly 52 weeks later saw Alvarez defeat Golovkin (41-1-1, 36KOs) via majority decision to become the unified middleweight champion.
Alvarez would go on to add the IBF middleweight to his collection with a twelve-round decision over Daniel Jacobs, also at T-Mobile Arena in May 2019. Six months later came a two-division leap to light heavyweight, where Alvarez scored an eleventh-round knockout of Sergey Kovalev to win the WBO 175-pound title in November 2019, his final fight with Golden Boy Promotions before the two finalized a bitter split a year later.
Four wins have followed for Alvarez, including his becoming the first Mexican fighter in history to claim undisputed championship status in the three- or four-belt era. That crown will be at stake in a proposed third fight with Golovkin, should the two-time and reigning IBF middleweight titlist make it to that point.
Next up for the 31-year-old Alvarez is a challenge of WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol (19-0, 11KOs) on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena. Alvarez’s super middleweight championship status will be secured regardless of the outcome. Golovkin is due to face Japan’s Ryota Murata (16-2, 13KOs) in a WBA/IBF middleweight title fight this Saturday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Golovkin turns 40 on Friday, having not fought since a December 2020 eighth-round knockout of Kamil Szeremeta which was just his third fight since the loss to Alvarez nearly four years ago.
Wedged in between was a brutal twelve-round slugfest with Sergiy Derevyanchenko, which Golovkin won by unanimous decision though showing significant wear and tear in the process.
“Look, Triple G is up there in age,” noted De La Hoya. He’s up there in age, he’s been in wars. He’s not a young 40-year-old. He’s a true 40-year-old fighter who will show his age in that third fight with Canelo.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: JakeNDaBox
