KEY POINTS
- Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin are gearing up for a trilogy fight set to take place on Sept. 17 in Las Vegas
- Alvarez vowed to give his rival a rude send-off in their third showdown
- Golovkin said he was puzzled by Alvarez's aggressive behavior and felt that the Mexican is not confident
Canelo Alvarez vowed to send Gennady Golovkin into retirement when they face off in their trilogy fight on Sept. 17 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
There is no love lost between the two boxing icons, and Alvarez wasted no time showing that.
Alvarez and Golovkin kicked off their promotional tour for the upcoming fight on Friday at the Hollywood Legion Theater in Los Angeles. It was the first time that the two had seen each other since their last bout in 2018.
Since their last fight, the path of the two boxers went in different directions. Alvarez went on a rampage, facing eight different fighters at different weight classes.
The Mexican experienced his first loss in nearly a decade when he fell to Dmitry Bivol last month. Alvarez lost via unanimous decision with the WBA Super Light heavyweight title on the line.
For his part, Golovkin fought four times, the last of which was a TKO win over Ryota Murata. He retained the IBF and IBO middleweight titles and won the WBA Super middleweight title.
Alvarez feels he had a better run than Golovkin, and he took a jab at the 40-year-old fighter.
“I was busy fighting with the best fighters out there. That’s why [it took four years for the third fight]. … Of course [he’s waited around and not done anything but wait for me]. He wants his last payday. Look at my fights after GGG, and look at his fights,” Alvarez was quoted as saying by Boxing Scene.
Alvarez promised to send the Kazakhstani into retirement, saying he will be the last boxer GGG will ever fight.
“[It will be] so sweet [to push him off the proverbial cliff at the end of his career]. Of course [I want to retire him]. I will be [the last guy he ever fights],” the Mexican said.
Golovkin was surprised by Alvarez's aggressive behavior during their kick-off press conference. Triple G told Fight Hub TV that he feels his rival showed he was “not confident” heading into their third showdown.
“It was curious for me to observe his behavior and his reactions and to me, he looked a bit different,” Golovkin said. “His behavior shows that he’s not confident. He would have behaved differently if he thought he won that second fight, but I don’t think about it. He’s not on my mind.”
Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a draw in 2017, and Alvarez won the rematch in 2018.
Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin, right, could set up a blockbuster trilogy fight with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, left, if the veteran Kazakh beat Ryota Murata in Saitama on Saturday Photo: AFP / John GURZINSKI
