Golovkin wants to beat Canelo by making it a WAR

Boxingnews24.com

By Dan Ambrose: Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) isn’t from Mexico but he plans on using what he refers to as the “Mexican style” of fighting learned from his trainer Abel Sanchez to defeat Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) on September 16. Canelo says he wants to show who has the real “Mexican style” of fighting when he gets Golovkin inside the ring at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

However, the boxing fans and the odds-makers believe that Golovkin is the one that will triumph in this fight due to his size, power, experience and superior ability.

The interesting part about Canelo and Golovkin’s fighting styles is Canelo fights more like an American than a classic Mexican fighter. Canelo seems to have adopted the fighting style of Floyd Mayweather Jr., and he uses that style almost exclusively. You can argue that the fighter that uses the classic Mexican style that we see from greats like Julio Cesar Chavez is Triple G. He fights more with the Mexican style of fighting in my opinion.

So what we could be seeing is Golovkin beating a popular Mexican star using the Mexican style of fighting on September 16. We’re not going to see Golovkin fight in an Eastern European style, because he stopped using that style since he teamed up with trainer Abel Sanchez. He’s changed Golovkin’s fighting style completely to make him like the Mexican greats in the past, and the change has really helped Golovkin’s fighting. He’s become more of a knockout artist with the help of Sanchez.

“He has a little bit of the Mexican style,” said Canelo about GGG. “He’s aggressive. He’s a big puncher. He has a good left hook. I’m obviously Mexican with Mexican blood. The fans are going to see a great fight because of that. I’m going to make it very clear at the end who the better fighter is. I’m obsessed to win the fight. On September 16th, you will see who the real Mexican style is,” said Canelo.

Canelo has already hinted that he’s not going to stand and go to war with Golovkin in this fight. Canelo thinks it would be a mistake for him to stand directly in front of GGG and trade power shots. If Canelo chooses to fight Golovkin the way that someone like Floyd Mayweather Jr. would by boxing him, then we’re probably not going to be able to see the Mexican style of fighting that Golovkin wants to show off to the fans.

Golovkin sees it as a big bonus for the fans if he’s able to use the style of fighting that was taught to him by Abel Sanchez. If Canelo decides he’s going to make it dull by using his Mayweather-esque fighting style with the shoulder roll and in and out fighting style, it could be very boring for the fans.

There won’t be a bonus for the many boxing fans that are paying to see the Canelo-Golovkin fight on HBO PPV if Canelo decides he wants to fight like Mayweather and play it safe for 12 rounds. Canelo has to realize that the fans will be paying their money to see an actual fight, not a tactical, play it safe sparring match with Triple G.

Mayweather’s boring fight with Manny Pacquiao in 2015 arguably upset a lot of boxing fans, who seemingly have stayed away from purchasing other PPV events ever since that contest. Canelo owes it to the fans to make it exciting for them by him having faith in his ability to stand in front of Golovkin and beat him with his skills.

“We were friends before, and we’ll be friends after this fight,” said Golovkin about Canelo. “It’s a lot of drama. Mexican style is like a bonus. I feel like Superman,” said Golovkin.

Golovkin may need to put pressure on Canelo to draw him out, because his trainers will very likely have a game plan that they believe can nullify Golovkin’s power. Danny Jacobs, Golovkin’s last opponent, used movement and fast combinations to keep from getting hit in the fight. Golovkin had to go after Jacobs in order to land. In the second half of the fight, Jacobs started to mix it up more, and Golovkin was able to hit him with some big shots.

Canelo doesn’t have the size of the 6’0” Jacobs, and he’s not a mover like him. Jacobs fought a real cautious fight against Golovkin. The best shot that Jacobs landed in the entire fight was a left hook in round 3 while Golovkin had him in a clinch. Canelo will need to do a lot better than that if he wants to beat Golovkin. He’s not going to beat him by fighting timidly like Jacobs did. Using movement might not work.

It didn’t work for Jacobs and definitely didn’t work for Kell Brook. When you’re at the world class level in PPV fights, you’ve got to be able to fight. You can’t spoil your way to a victory like Jacobs and Brook were both trying to do against GGG. Canelo needs to stay with his Mexican style and prove that he can beat Golovkin with his Mexican style.

”This is huge for the sport. Everyone knows Canelo is a big fighter,” said Golovkin to Fightnews.com. “Boxing needed this fight. I was happy when we made the deal. Now we have a real deal. I feel good. We have a Mexican style.”

If Canelo and Golovkin can meet in the center of the ring on September 16 to battle it out, this fight could be a fight that will be remembered for years to come. We know that Golovkin isn’t going to play it safe, because that’s not in his DNA. He doesn’t fight like that. Canelo typically has been willing to go to war with his opposition. However, in Canelo’s fight with Austin Trout in 2013, we saw him fight the entire second half of the contest with his back against the ropes, using the shoulder roll.

It was like watching Mayweather fighting Jose Luis Castillo in their first fight. Mayweather spent a lot of time with his back against the ropes taking punishment from Castillo. It was one of the worst fights of Mayweather’s career, and he clearly should have lost the fight. Instead, he was given the win over Castillo. We saw the same thing with Canelo getting a win he didn’t deserve against Trout.

Mayweather saw the Canelo-Trout fight and he said it was pretty much a draw in his mind. But if Canelo chooses to spoil and hang on the ropes against Golovkin, it could end badly for him. Golovkin is going to work Canelo over with power shots if he traps him against the ropes for a prolonged period of time.
Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler believes that Canelo will come to fight, and won’t play it safe like Jacobs was doing.

“I think Danny [Jacobs] being physically bigger, heavier, fast with good combinations, like Gennady says, he’s not going to have to look for Canelo,” said Loeffler. ”He’s going to be there. Danny was moving quite a bit, using a lot of angles, a lot of lateral movement. That’s what he’s saying, the Mexican style is kind of a bonus for the fans. It’s going to be more exciting. They’ll be going at it inside the ring. Canelo is not going to be going backwards. Golovkin is not going to be going backwards. It’s not going to be a boring 12 round fight,” said Loeffler.

Let’s hope Loeffler is right about the fight not being a boring fight, because Golovkin’s fight with Jacobs was very boring. It’s not Golovkin’s fault. Jacobs was the one who decided to move a lot and tie Golovkin up frequently when he was in punching range.

If Canelo decides to fight like that too, it’s going to slow the fight down to a crawl. Golovkin needs to be prepared for Canelo to fight like Jacobs. If Canelo is willing to fight like Mayweather, then I could see him choosing to spoil like Jacobs in order to win a close, controversial victory instead of taking a risk by fighting Golovkin in the “Mexican style” that he wants to in order to entertain the millions of boxing fans that will be paying to watch the fight on September 16.

I don’t know if Canelo realizes this or not, but it would be smart for him to go to war with Golovkin in this fight, because it would help him pick up new boxing fans and become the crossover star that he needs to be in order for him to raise his PPV numbers to the level that we routinely saw from Floyd Mayweather Jr. during his best years as a PPV attraction. I don’t think Canelo is willing to do that.

I think his main focus is NOT getting knocked out. I see Canelo wanting to win at all costs, even if that means stinking up the joint by spoiling for 12 rounds and winning ugly. I would hope that Canelo is willing to try and beat Golovkin with his hand speed, combinations and defensive skills. I don’t think he will. I see Canelo choosing to use the Mayweather style and win ugly in a boring fight. If Canelo fights like Mayweather, he’ll lose the fight in my view.

Golovkin will jab Canelo to pieces if he decides to fight like Mayweather. But if Canelo goes to war, then we’ll see if Golovkin can deal with his hand speed and counter punching ability. Golovkin might not be able to handle Canelo’s speed. He’s faster than Jacobs, who gave Golovkin a lot of problems last March.