by Mark Lorenzana
First order of business: the upcoming rematch between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin this September 15. The first fight ended up in a controversial draw, with an immediate rematch scuttled because of Canelo testing positive for clenbuterol, which he claims is the result of tainted meat. Now finally, thankfully, we’re a few days removed from both guys trading leather again, and Canelo’s camp has been very vocal about knocking out Golovkin.
Frankly, I think that’s easier said than done and remains to be seen. While I scored the first fight for Canelo because of what I perceived as the cleaner punches landed, even though Golovkin was the aggressor, there goes the rub: Canelo didn’t fight Triple G toe-to-toe and relied on his boxing skills instead. Why? I think Canelo knows that if he fought Golovkin in the pocket and didn’t box, eventually Triple G would catch him with a big one and end the fight.
I have to say thought that I was pretty impressed at how Canelo took Golovkin’s best shots. The Mexican handled the Kazakh’s power well, but I don’t see the former knocking out the latter; if someone’s getting knocked out in the rematch, I still think it’s gonna be Canelo.
That said, I only see two outcomes to this fight: Golovkin by knockout or Canelo by split decision.
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Note to myself: never, ever doubt Donnie Nietes again.
Don’t get me wrong–Nietes is one of my favorite fighters ever, and it’s an amazing feat that he’s been undefeated all these years and that even at his advanced age he still manages to showcase his world-class boxing skills fight after fight (mind you, 36 years old is ancient for someone who campaigns at boxing’s lower weights).
But I really thought climbing up another weight class would be too much for him, plus the fact that he’d be facing a much-bigger and taller Aston Palicte.
Like I said: never, ever doubt Donnie Nietes again.
It wasn’t the most exciting fight, but it showed that Nietes is worlds away from Palicte in terms of skill–the ALA fighter schooled his fellow Filipino all throughout the tactical (some will say boring) fight and deserved to win by a wide margin instead of settling for a draw. Nietes should be a four-division world champion by now.
You know what? I think he will still eventually get that fourth title in a fourth weight class, but I hope he steps back into the ring sooner than later owing to his advanced age.
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Fun fact: Manny Pacquiao’s camp has threatened to sue Top Rank because Bob Arum’s promotional company allegedly failed to remit Pacquiao’s share of the television earnings from the Lucas Matthysse fight in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Pacquiao, according to a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, alleged that Top Rank is contractually bound to pay him the equivalent of 85 percent of the TV earnings when the fight was shown in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico via ESPN+.
I’ve always wondered why, all these years, Pacquiao has stayed with Arum and Top Rank instead of trying to strike out on his own like Floyd Mayweather did. Recently, Pacquiao seeemed to realize that Top Rank doesn’t really have his best interests at heart, but at age 39 and at the twilight of his career, perhaps it’s a little too late for this realization from the Pacman?
Stay tuned.
(Photo by HBO boxing via)
the hurt business 