Rounds 25 through 36 looked nothing like one to 24.
Canelo Alvarez, who received all his could handle in two previous fights with Gennadiy Golovkin, made Triple-G look all of his 40 years for most of the fight en route to winning a unanimous decision at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The bizarre scores were 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113, which didn’t reflect what happened in the ring. Boxing Junkie scored it 119-111 for Alvarez, 11 rounds to one.
Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) was a significant underdog for a reason, and not just because he’s eight years older than his prime rival. The Kazakhstani fighter also moved up from 160 pounds to 168 to face a pound-for-pound great.
Thus, the result was predictable.
Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) was in complete control for the first two thirds of the fight, as he pushed the action and threw power shots to the head and body with bad intentions.
Golovkin did almost nothing in response, throwing only jabs here and there and an occasional power shot. He was more concerned with surviving that winning those rounds, which made for a uncompetitive fight through eight rounds.
Then, in Round 9, Golovkin came to life to some degree. He began to plant his feet and actually fight back until the bell, more or less matching Alvarez punch for punch down the stretch.
Alas, it wasn’t enough for Golovkin, who lost eight rounds on one card and seven on the other two in what might be his last super fight.
Alvarez is now 2-0-1 against Triple-G, after a disputed draw in 2017 and a majority decision victory the following year. He had called his rivalry with Golovkin “finished business” after the second fight.
Now their series actually appears to be over, which gives Alvarez an opportunity move on to opponents closer to his age.
He confirmed after the fight that No. 1 on his list is Dmitry Bivol, who stunned Alvarez and the boxing world by outpointing him in May. It was his first setback since 2013, when he lost to Floyd Mayweather.
The loss to Bivol knocked the Mexican star off the top of most pound-for-pound lists. He wants revenge.
And now that Triple-G is finally behind him, he can pursue the rematch with his conqueror.
Like boxing? Be sure to visit Boxing Junkie for all your coverage of the sweet science and follow @BoxingJunkie2 on Twitter.