Gennadiy Golovkin can still taste the acridness in his mouth from the tendentious verdicts of his past two duels with Canelo Alvarez.

The IBF middleweight titleholder from Kazakhstan has long expressed his dismay with the results of his two bouts with Mexican superstar Alvarez, the current undisputed champion in the 168-pound division. 

Their first meeting, in 2017, ended in a controversial draw, even though most observers believed Golovkin clearly deserved the win. Adding to the fracas was the fact that one of the judges, Adalaide Byrd, had Alvarez up by an alarming eight points.

An immediate rematch was scheduled, but it was not without considerable difficulty and hoopla. The rematch was temporarily waylaid when it was discovered that Alvarez had tested positive for a banned substance, clenbuterol. Alvarez maintained that he had ingested it accidentally through tainted Mexican beef. Whatever the case, Golovkin, typically mild-mannered, grew more incensed than ever. The rematch finally took place the following year, in 2018, but Alvarez – showcasing a newly aggressive stance – would have his hands raised this time, even though a large swath of the media believed Golovkin had done enough to win.

In a recent recording of the Walking the Floor podcast, host Chris Shiflett noted to Golovkin that he believed he won the two bouts with Alvarez. Golovin, suffice to say, was of the same mind.

“I agree with you,” Golovkin said through a translator. “I have the same opinion as you that I won both fights. And nothing is going to change my opinion. But there are some people who are comfortable being delusional. Let them live with this delusion.”

Golovkin admitted that the outcome of both fights left him a bit disillusioned with the sport and made him approach his career with much more vigilance. Indeed, after the second Alvarez fight, Golovkin made a number of head-turning changes. He tightened up his inner circle, cutting ties with longtime trainer Abel Sanchez and essentially demoting his promoter Tom Loeffler to a nominal role.

“Whether they (the Alvarez fights) soured me (on boxing) a little bit, yes, because at the time the fight was the biggest fight in the world of boxing,” Golovkin said.

“To see that people were able to get away with this fraud, you just start thinking really, this is how it works? You start looking at box[ing], boxing’s not just a sport. From a business standpoint, people are willing to tweak it to their advantage in indecent ways and get away with it, without being responsible for their actions and without taking liability. Of course, that sort of changed my attitude.”

Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs), who turns 40 in April, last fought in December, defeating Kamil Szeremeta by seventh-round technical knockout. He is scheduled to face Ryota Murata in April in Tokyo. Should he win that fight, Golovkin could be looking at a trilogy match with the 31-year-old Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) by the end of the year, according to reports stating that Alvarez is nearing a two-fight deal with DAZN, the second of which would potentially involve Golovkin.