Canelo Defeats Golovkin In Unanimous Decision Before 19,519 At T-Mobile Arena Saturday; Canelo-GGG Trilogy Was Lucrative For Both
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By Cassandra Cousineau, LVSportsBiz.com Boxing Writer
Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin fought for a third time in Las Vegas tonight and it was Canelo coming away with a unanimous decision — 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113.
As it did for the first two, T-Mobile Arena hosted their trilogy bout for the unified super middleweight championship with attendance announced at 19,519.
Alvarez (57-2-2) was the clear favorite. Golovkin (42-1-1), a +370 underdog, is looking to avenge what many considered a robbery in the first fight, which actually ended in a draw.
That draw to Canelo and loss are the only two blemishes on his all but Triple G’s certain Hall-of-Fame record. The trilogy comes down to undisputed champions and an enormous cash out in Las Vegas.
Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez is one of the biggest and bankable draws in boxing.
At only 32 years old, he has been a professional boxer for more than half of his life. With 62 fights under his belt, he has sustained a mere two losses, including one to Floyd Mayweather when he was just 23 years old in 2013.
His second loss came in 2022 when his lofty ambition to go up in weight was thwarted by unbeaten WBA light heavyweight champion Anthony Bivol.
Álvarez and Golovkin fought to a contentious split draw in 2017 even though most ringside observers thought Golovkin earned the victory.
Álvarez handed Golovkin the only loss of his career in the 2018 rematch by a razor-thin majority decision.
At 40 years old, 3G is eight years the senior of his competitor. The Kazakhstan native who trains in Big Bear Lake, Calif., maintains that he’s still young enough to match Alvarez.
“I will never take a step back,” Golovkin said in an interview, through a Russian language translator. “Even if I’m 50 years old, if I’m challenged by Canelo, I would take the challenge. Sooner or later, this fight was going to take place, no matter what.”
The ferocious competitor has been composed during each of his fight week obligations. Still, the losses sting, and he’s focused on righting what he considers to be unjust decisions in Las Vegas.
“I definitely won the first fight. The judges got it wrong in Las Vegas. So I feel like now, there are no other opponents as interesting,” Triple G said. “DAZN knows that. Canelo knows that. That’s why we’re here now.”
Even as the two have been competitive sportsmen throughout their meetings, this one appears to be more personal.
“I just want to punish him really hard. That’s the only thing happening in my mind. I’m very close to doing it now,” Canelo said during his media scrum. “He pretends to be a nice person and he’s not. He talks a lot of shit about me, and that’s why I don’t like him. He’s a good fighter, he’s a great fighter, that’s for sure. But, as a person, I don’t think so.”
As with all things inflation related this year, ticket prices have increased from the first two Canelo vs. GGG fights. Previously, fans could find a seat in T-Mobile starting from $300 on the low end. A view from the floor ran in the $2,000-$5,000 range on the high end.
Yesterday’s price is not today’s price in Las Vegas or anywhere else in the country. For Saturday’s fight, the cheap seats will set you back from around $700 and quickly set you back several thousand and closer to between $3,000 to $6,500 on average according to Ticketmaster.
With Canelo’s undisputed super middleweight title up for grabs, he’s the A-side of the purse. Behind the promotional power of DAZN and Matchroom Boxing, the numbers are, by far, the highest paid between the three fights, with the guaranteed totals making up just a portion of revenue that the fighters will earn. According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Canelo is set to collect $10 million in guaranteed money, while GGG is set to earn $8 million in guaranteed money. He will receive a reported total of $65 million including PPV revenue.
On the B-side (insert laughing emoji), Golovkin will take home a liveable $43 milliin in pre-taxed money. Despite earning less than his long-term foe, Golovkin will still earn a career-high payday when revenue is added via bonuses. The PPV split based is estimated to be 60-40 for Canelo.
