By Miguel Rivera
Tom Loeffler, the promoter of IBO, WBC, WBA middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin, is not worried about his fighter's ability to handle the punching power of Canelo Alvarez.
The rematch between Canelo and Golovkin takes place on September 15th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The contest will be Canelo's first bout in a year.
The first contest, which took place in September 2017, ended in a controversial twelve round split draw.
For the rematch, Canelo has promised to score a knockout.
Loeffler is not concerned. He believes his boxer can take any punch that Canelo is capable of landing.
"Golovkin has one of the best chins, maybe the best chin in boxing. Canelo hit him with a big uppercut, Gennady took a step back and then went forward and gave two [in return], and that's what affected Canelo mentally. He landed his best punch and it did nothing, what else can he do?," said Loeffler to the Los Angeles Times.
The negotiations for the rematch were long and quite tense.
Loeffler admits that at one point he thought the rematch would fall apart.
"There was at least an hour after the deadline where I thought it would not happen. I called Tecate, HBO, MGM and all our partners to tell them it was not going to happen," Loeffler said. "But in the end in five minutes everything was solved."
Canelo vs. Golovkin was scheduled to initially take place during Cinco De Mayo weekend on May 5th. The Mexican star was eventually forced to withdraw from the bout, after testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol. Then Canelo was cracked with a six month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The NSAC's ban will conclude on August 17th.
