Canelo Alvarez dominated Gennady Golovkin to win their trilogy fight by unanimous decision on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The Mexican star won 10 or 11 of the 12 rounds in the eyes of most fans and observers, however the judges saw things far differently and caused controversy by scoring it far closer.
The fight began with both men meeting in the centre of the ring, neither wanting to take a backwards step.
Despite this though, they were cautious of one another, with Canelo’s output seeming just slightly superior in the opener.
The Mexican’s jab was key early on, and he used it to set up a few notable power shots in round two.
It was undoubtedly a slow start from Golovkin, who began to mark up in the third after being caught with several hard left hooks and overhand rights.
Round four saw this pattern continue as the younger man dominated his 40-year-old rival.
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GGG soaked up a great deal of punishment in the first half of the bout and did not appear to have won a round as they reached the halfway point.
The pro-Canelo crowd roared as their man hammered Golovkin with powerful right hands again and again.
Kazakhstan’s warrior looked a shadow of his former self, offering very little to deter the Mexican’s assault.
Canelo slowed things down in rounds seven and eight, beginning to coast as he won points with ease.
For a moment in the eighth, Golovkin stepped forward and upped his output. The response was instant and he was smashed with yet another hard right which forced him to step back again.
In round nine, GGG finally had his first positive moments of the fight as he put together a combination of hooks which forced his opponent to cover up against the ropes.
The Kazakh continued this aggression into the tenth, but Canelo of course didn’t take this lying down and battled back despite showing signs of slowing down.
Regardless, the Mexican was far enough ahead that Golovkin blatantly needed a knockout heading into the final two rounds.
GGG went looking for exactly that, but Canelo remained resolute and saw out his victory.
The judges awarded him a unanimous decision to end the trilogy with scores of 116-112, 115-113, 115-113.
Ironically, after all the controversy around judges being in his favour for their past two fights, Canelo was just one round away from being badly robbed by two of the scoring officials in their third meeting.
“He’s strong, he’s a great fighter,” the Mexican said. “For me, I’m just glad to share the ring with him.
“We give the fans three really good fights. I’m glad to be involved in that kind of fight.
“It’s very important for me, for my legacy, for my country, for everybody.
“I’ve gone through some very difficult things in my life. I’ve actually shown that defeats are great because they enable you to come back and show humility.
“I’m going to keep going to keep my legacy going.”
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