The biggest fight in boxing not involving Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor will take place on September 16th in Las Vegas. It will be to unify the middleweight (160 pounds) belts as Gennady Golokvin holds the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF and IBO belts. He’ll put them on the line against Canelo Alvarez, who holds The Ring middleweight title. Here is a closer look at this boxing betting matchup.
What You Need To Know About Gennady Golokvin
Golokvin is 37-0 with 33 KO wins and is better known as “GGG” (his middle name is Gennadyevich), and he hails from Kazakhstan. He is one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world and is legendary for his knockout power, but he showed in his win over Daniel Jacobs that he could go 12 rounds and that he was a boxer, not just a pure puncher. He showed excellent ring control and he didn’t look very tired after 12 rounds in a fight that was the longest of his career. However, if “GGG” catches you with a clean punch, there aren’t many on the planet that can stand up to it.
What You Need To Know About Canelo Alvarez
Alvarez is 49-1-1 with 34 KO wins, and his lone loss came back in September 2013 against Mayweather, a match in which Alvarez gained a lot of experience. He is a very good technical boxer with power, but the Mayweather match showed Alvarez, who was much younger than his opponent, the art of ring control and dictating the pace of the fight. He did so against fellow Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a dominant unanimous decision in May, and he showed a willingness to throw more punches than usual. However, he might want to back up off that plan against Golokvin, who is much more powerful than Chavez Jr., and probably even more powerful than Alvarez himself, which is no small feat.
Outlook
“GGG” is a favorite in this superfight at -160 while Alvarez comes in at +135, although those odds could change a little bit by the time this fight rolls around. Expect a cautious opening to this fight as both men try to find their range, and no one will want to make a mistake early in the bout. Alvarez especially will want to be careful of testing Golokvin’s power, and it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts if he is caught by the four-belt champion. Alvarez is no slouch, but this might be the toughest fight of his career, even tougher than Mayweather as he was never in danger of being knocked out in that fight. That was all about technique and everyone knew going in that Mayweather had the edge there. That being said, Alvarez has his share of punching power as well and if he can get an opening in the middle rounds, he has to let it fly. He probably won’t be able to knock out Golokvin, but Alvarez needs as many points as he can to score a victory in this massive middleweight match.
Boxing Betting Pick: Alvarez
If you’re looking for the boxing betting lines for this fight, Shangri La has the latest odds for the Golovkin-Alvarez fight.
