"168 is going to help him" - Eddie Hearn backs Gennadiy Golovkin's decision to fight Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight
Eddie Hearn thinks Gennadiy Golovkin’s decision to face his arch-nemesis Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight will benefit him. The British promoter cited the sluggish start of ‘GGG’ in his last fight against Ryota Murata at middleweight.
In their faceoff early last month, the Japanese challenger started fast and dictated the pace of the early rounds until the Kazakhstan-born fighter took over by the mid-rounds. The end came in round nine after a hard right hand dropped Murata, prompting his corner to throw the towel and give Golovkin a technical knockout win. The 40-year-old retained his WBA, WBC, WBO, and IBF middleweight titles with the victory.
In a report by DAZN, Hearn said that despite the win, Golovkin looked “drained out” in his fight against Murata:
“I think the move to 168 is going to really help Gennadiy Golovkin, don’t forget he’s been at 160 for nine, ten years of his career. I thought he looked a little bit weight drained out there in Japan, and I think 168 is going to help him.”
Golovkin has been a middleweight throughout his entire professional career. He is set to once again face Alvarez, currently the Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion, on September 17 for their trilogy fight.
Gennadiy Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez III will be brutal
The upcoming trilogy fight between Gennadiy Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez has the potential to be one of the biggest fights of the year. Eddie Hearn also expects the fight to be brutal. In a DAZN report, he was quoted as saying:
"This fight won’t go 12 rounds, in my opinion. I think Canelo Alvarez with the spite he’s going to have coming off the defeat and the dislike he has for Gennadiy Golovkin and vice versa, I think these guys are going to go at it."
Golovkin and Alvarez fought in 2017 and 2018 at middleweight. Their first meeting ended with a controversial split draw despite the Kazakhstan-born fighter outlanding Alvarez in 10 of the 12 rounds.
The outcome of their heavily-contested first fight prompted a rematch—a thrilling back-and-forth bout that ended up being named the 2018 Fight of the Year.
Their second meeting was again not without controversy as Alvarez defeated Golovkin via majority decision after 12 rounds. Statistically, the fight was just as close as their first meeting.
Watch the highlights of Alvarez vs. Golovkin II below: