Gennadiy Golovkin wasn’t surprised when Dmitry Bivol beat Canelo Alvarez four months ago.

Based on what Alvarez’s rival knew about both boxers, Golovkin expected Alvarez to have difficulty dealing with Bivol’s movement and skills. The intelligent, taller Bivol has been a light heavyweight throughout his seven-year pro career, which Golovkin viewed as another advantage for the unbeaten WBA 175-pound champion. What befuddled Golovkin was Alvarez’s assessment of how their 12-round, 175-pound championship match was scored May 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where Golovkin and Alvarez will finally fight a third time Saturday night.

Judges Tim Cheatham, Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld all scored their fight 115-113 for Bivol, whose performance seemingly warranted a wider win on their cards. Alvarez stated during their post-fight press conference that he “maybe I lost four or five rounds, but I definitely didn’t lose the fight.”

CompuBox unofficially credited Bivol for landing 68 more punches overall than Alvarez (152-of-710 to 84-of-495). CompuBox counted more power punches (106-of-292 to 74-of-266) and more jabs (46-of-418 to 10-of-229) for Bivol, who wasn’t fazed by Alvarez’s power and was much more active thanks to his superior conditioning.

Golovkin wouldn’t say how he scored Bivol-Alvarez, yet he acknowledged Alvarez lost more than the seven rounds the judges credited Bivol for winning.

“It would not be appropriate for me to suggest what the score might be,” Golovkin told BoxingScene.com through a translator. “I’m not a judge. People probably question my opinion of that anyway, so I don’t want to do that. But Bivol looked better and his win was more convincing than the score reflects. The behavior of his opponent, Canelo, raising his arms after the fight and later saying that he probably lost only a couple of rounds, that just shows his loss of touch with reality and his failure to assess things adequately.”

Golovkin chose his words carefully, but the scoring of Bivol-Alvarez must at least be in the back of his mind as he heads into fight week for his long-awaited third showdown with Alvarez, a DAZN pay-per-view main event.

Nevada’s Moretti and New Jersey’s Weisfeld also have been assigned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to judge Alvarez-Golovkin III, along with Oklahoma’s David Sutherland. While his loss to Bivol proved that Alvarez indeed can lose a unanimous decision in Las Vegas, the official closeness of what appeared to be a more definitive defeat couldn’t conceivably escape Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs), who believes he deserved better than the scores of his first two fights versus Alvarez.

Moretti and Weisfeld both scored their middleweight championship rematch 115-113 for Alvarez, who was more effective versus Golovkin during their rematch than in their first fight. Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) won their 12-round rematch by majority decision because the third judge, Connecticut’s Glenn Feldman, scored it a draw, 114-114, in September 2018 at T-Mobile Arena.

Their first fight infamously resulted in a 12-round split draw in September 2017, also at T-Mobile Arena.

Nevada’s Adalaide Byrd absurdly scored Alvarez the winner of 10 rounds, 118-110, over Golovkin that night, but Moretti credited Golovkin for a 115-113 win in their initial meeting. Connecticut’s Don Trella scored their first fight a draw, 114-114.

Bivol’s performance against Alvarez was more convincing than anything Alvarez or Golovkin accomplished in their first two fights. Golovkin feels Russia’s Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) could’ve been even more dominant that night.

“I wouldn’t say that I was surprised because I know who Canelo is, I know who Bivol is,” Bivol said. “What surprised me more was the reaction of people who were under some kind of illusion, that basically have been kidding themselves for a long period of time [about Alvarez]. I think Bivol could’ve been more superior. We all saw how he looked after the fight. He didn’t even look tired. He had the ability to make his win more convincing.”

Mexico’s Alvarez, 32, is listed by most sportsbooks as at least a 4-1 favorite to defeat the 40-year-old Golovkin in their third meeting, a 12-round fight for Alvarez’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.