The boxing world revolves around Las Vegas as the world's super middleweight championship is at stake with Canelo Alvarez defending his four world titles against WBA and IBF middleweight king Gennady Golovkin in their third and likely final fight.
Alvarez is a strong favorite due to his recent advantage in activity since their second fight and Golovkin's age (turning 40 this year) with few giving GGG more than a puncher's chance of finally winning what many (including me) think he has deserved twice already against Alvarez.
Golovkin stopped Ryota Murata in his most recent fight in nine rounds to take Murata's WBA middleweight title while Alvarez was upset by Dmitry Bivol by unanimous decision in his last outing in May.
Alvarez is established at the higher weight division and seems to be the larger man, which is ironic when you consider that Canelo's then-promoter Oscar De La Hoya used the reasoning of Golovkin being the stronger fighter and Alvarez needing time to bulk up as a reason to avoid Golovkin well before their first fight.
Golovkin has shown a vulnerability to body shots in recent fights and Alvarez is known as a vicious body puncher, so it makes sense that many think the most likely ending is Alvarez by late-round knockout after a body punch.
And with GGG at 40 to Canelo's 32, it would seem that Canelo's prime is now with Golovkin's slightly past his best performances.
Admittedly, I have been a Golovkin fan, and I do think that he won the first two fights ( first and second) but for all the Canelo hype at this point in his career, Canelo is a deserving favorite for the bout.
Still, I cannot stop thinking about the parallels between Golovkin-Canelo and the final fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez that saw Marquez battle past questionable decision losses and lesser recognization to score the decisive victory (Has it been ten years already?) that he had always deserved.
And maybe it's sentimental and not factual but I think we might be sitting on an upset.
The two undercard fights in the boxing challenge are interesting with Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez attempting to stake a claim to Fighter of the Year with a defense of his WBC junior bantamweight title.
Rodriguez, who upset Carlos Cuadras to win his title and defeated Srisaket Sor Rungvisai to retain it, defends against Israel Gonzalez, a solid top ten contender who has failed in three past attempts to win a world title against Roman Gonzalez, Kal Yafai, and Jerwin Ancajas.
It is the type of defense that champions used to make to stay busy against solid but not overwhelming challengers rather than in overmatched squash matches.
Gonzalez lasted the distance against Chocolatito and Yafai and until the tenth against Ancajas, so he has a solid chin, and should Bam Rodriguez stop him, it is a sizable achievement.
Once beaten super middleweight Ali Akhmedov continues his comeback against veteran Gabriel Rosado in a ten-rounder that should have its share of action.
Akhmedov was far ahead on the scorecards in a title eliminator against Carlos Gongora in December 2020 before Gongora knocked him out in the final round and has won only two fights since against lesser competition.
The veteran trialhorse Rosado will bring what he usually brings-a tough chin, tender skin, a huge heart, and a puncher's chance of winning as in his upset of Beketmir Melikuziev.
Boxing Challenge
Vince Samano: Alvarez KO 9
TRS: Rodriguez KO 9
V.S: Rodriguez KO 7
TRS and V.S: Akhmedov Unanimous Decision
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