For now, Canelo Alvarez can lay claim to being the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world.
Alvarez scored a majority decision victory over Gennady Golovkin Saturday night in front of almost 22,000 people in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena, winning the WBA (super), WBC, IBO and The Ring middleweight titles in the process.
The loss snapped a division-record 20 consecutive title defenses for GGG and marked his first career defeat. Last year, these two fought to a draw that left fans and fighters alike demanding a rematch.
Following the close decision, both fighters were asked about a third encounter and appeared to be willing to sign on the dotted line.
Two judges scored the fight in favor of Alvarez, 115-113, with the third recording a draw at 114-114.
“I showed my victory with facts,” Alvarez said. “He was the one who was backing up. I feel satisfied because I gave a great fight. It was a clear victory.”
According to CompuBox, Alvarez landed 202 of the 622 punches he threw, with Golovkin finishing 234 of 879. In eight of the 12 rounds contested, Golovkin out-landed Alvarez.
In the co-main event, Jaime Munguia defended his WBO junior middleweight title with a third round TKO over Brandon Cook. David Lemieux stopped Gary O’Sullivan in the first round and Roman Gonzalez finished Moises Fuentes in the fifth.