Canelo Alvarez brings Gennadiy Golovkin’s competition to the finish line with a clear win in Las Vegas | Boxing News

Canelo Alvarez ended his trilogy with Gennadiy Golovkin.

He won a clear unanimous decision to defend his undisputed super-middleweight championship at T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Mexico’s Alvarez and Kazakhstan’s Golovkin share a difficult history. They had two excellent middleweight title fights in 2017 and 2018.

But their first match ended in a bitterly controversial draw. Their second fight was delayed when Alvarez was suspended for six months for an adverse finding in a drug test that he blamed on eating tainted meat.

The Mexicans won that second encounter by majority decision, but never got the better of Golovkin in a comprehensive way.

However, he made it on Saturday in their third and certainly last game.

Golovkin went up to 168lbs to challenge Alvarez for the WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF super middleweight titles he currently holds. But at the age of 40, the Kazakhs cannot match the dynamism and speed of their great rival.

In the opening round, both battled within themselves, seeking to defeat each other with solid lead moves.

However, it was Alvarez who stood firm on his front foot, keeping the center of the ring and forcing Golovkin to step back. Giving up the ground meant that Golovkin couldn’t escape the powerful punches on which his fearsome reputation rested.

Instead, Alvarez worked his butt off, catching up round after round as he unleashed a quick header and header right through the gaps. These quick, precise shots tagged Golovkin and made him reluctant to take his own hand.

After targeting primarily the head during the first half of the fight, Alvarez began varying the extent of his attacks as the match progressed, sometimes striking the body with left hooks. These hits came less often than expected but when they landed, hit with such force that Golovkin clearly felt their weight and had to step back again.

When the war entered the later phase, Alvarez created an almost unbreakable advantage. He found the answer when Golovkin caught him, combining quality plays and delivering a strangely spectacular right-sided cut into the Kazakh jaw.

With time retreating from the skirmish and opportunities slipping away from him, Golovkin put more pressure in the 11th round, eventually becoming busy after his constant stabs and hard hooks.

But it was too little, too late. At this stage, the challenger needs a knockout to win, and that’s unlikely to happen.

The final scores were 116-112 and 115-113 twice, all for Alvarez.

Their rivalry is finally over.

“He’s strong, he’s a great fighter,” said the Mexican. “For me, I’m happy to share the ring with him. We give the fans three really good matches. I’m happy to be involved in such a fight.”

Golovkin replied: “I want to shake Canelo’s hand and congratulate his whole team.”

After the only violence of their first two battles, the third ended peacefully.

Even at the age of 40, Golovkin has no intention of retiring. “Sure [I’ll carry on]. I have a great plan, a lot of opponents”, he said, “I will be back, I am still a champion”.

Alvarez entered this battle because of a defeat. A foray from light-heavyweight in May ended with Russian 175lb WBA heavyweight Dmitry Bivol overtaking him. The Mexican wants that rematch, after he recovered from a “really bad” injury to his left hand.

“I need to recover my hands and body and come back stronger than ever,” he said.

When it comes to avenging Bivol, Alvarez insisted: “It’s very important to me, to my legacy, to my country, to everyone.

“I’ve been through some very difficult things in my life,” he added. “I’ve really proven that losses are great because they allow you to come back and show humility.

“I will continue to keep my legacy going.”

This third Alvarez-Golovkin clash doesn’t equal the excitement or intensity of their first two fights. But there can’t be a contested outcome this time.

For Canelo Alvarez, that would make this victory even sweeter.