Twelve hellacious rounds wasn’t enough to provide a clear winner between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. 36 minutes of action only left us wanting more and the fact that one scorecard was absolutely atrocious — Adelaide Byrd’s 118-110 score for Canelo — it was obvious that everyone wanted more.
Obvious for everyone but Canelo Alvarez.
In a showdown that was dubbed as “The Real Fight,” Canelo and GGG battled to a split draw in a sensational fight that satisfied the lofty expectations of fans across the globe. But without a victor being decided, one would expect both fighters to jump at the opportunity to do it again. Not only that, but a rematch during Cinco De Mayo weekend in 2018 stands to eclipse what will likely be massive gate and PPV numbers from the first fight.
Golovkin wasted no time calling for the rematch.
“This was the big drama show,” Golovkin said while citing his catchphrase. “Of course I want the rematch. Look I still have all the belts, I’m still the champion.”
But Canelo refused to demand a rematch despite his performance and the fact that he was unable to snare away the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, and IBO middleweight titles that Golovkin held. Instead, Canelo put the onus on the fans to ask for rematch.
“If the fans want to see it again, why not?” Alvarez said in his post-fight interview.
At the post-fight news conference, it appeared that Oscar De La Hoya waffled back and forth on the rematch and was hesitant to commit. Initially, he said that Alvarez would exercise a rematch clause but it was later clarified that Team Alvarez would take some time to ponder their options before a decision was made.
This is made all the more interesting by the fact that a rematch would find Canelo (27 years old) still in his prime boxing years while GGG would turn 36 by the time the two fighters met again.
