By Steve Kim

Heading into their September 16th showdown at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, much will be made of the sparring that took place between Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) in Big Bear, California several years ago.

Back then, both were relatively unknown figures to most American fight fans. Now, they meet as bonafide stars of the sport.

So what can be gleaned from those sessions?

According to Golovkin (who now holds the WBA, WBC, IBF and IBO middleweight belts) not all that much.

"I just remember a couple of rounds. I help him and he help me, just boxing not true fight, sparring," Golovkin said to BoxingScene.com. "Not like very hard sparring. I remember he's a little bit young, his speed is good, his power for 154 is OK - not for 160. Different power, different time.

"Right now, last couple of fights he has power, he has more experience, he's bigger, stronger, he's better."

So just what did he know about Alvarez back then?

"I knew him, big prospect from Golden Boy, he worked with different promoters. I knew him," said Golovkin, who back then was relatively new to the States and the Summit in Big Bear.

"That's a long time ago, this is different story right now, different weight, different age. Right now he has more experience and my situations, I'm older now, it's 50-50. There's more interest."

Alvarez from that point has become one of the games biggest stars and has won major world titles at 154 and 160 during his career. This match-up is the most anticipated bout of 2017 and perhaps the most important one for the sport of boxing since Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao met back in 2015. Unfortunately, that fight failed to live up to expectations.

When asked if there was pressure to deliver an entertaining fight in September, Golovkin states - "I think it's a better fight because we - both me and Canelo - have different styles to present to the people, to fans, to TV - not like Floyd."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.