LAS VEGAS — Two weeks after Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor staged a spectacle, Gennady Golovkin and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez were simply spectacular.
In a fight that lived up to every bit of its hype Alvarez and Golovkin staged a 12-round slugfest that had the sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Arena on his feet for most of the much-anticipated middleweight championship bout.
But the cheers turned to boos when the best fight of year was ruled a draw, leaving just about all 22,358 fans in the building unsatisfied and wanting more.
Judge Adalaide Byrd scored it 118-110 for Alvarez, while Dave Moretti had it 115-113 for Golovkin. Judge Don Trella evened it with a 114-114 draw. The Post also scored it 114-114. The draw allowed Golovkin to retain his championship belts from the WBC, WBA, IBO and IBF.
Though there were boos about the decision, the pay-per-view fight was an excellent test of heart, stamina, and chins. It demands a rematch.
“Of course, I want the rematch,” Golovkin said. “This was a real fight. I still have the belts. I’m still the champion.”
Byrd’s scorecard didn’t reflect the closeness of the action and is sure to be discussed in the coming weeks. Known for the unpredictability of her scorecards, she amazingly gave Golovkin just two rounds. The bout was close enough to go one or two rounds in either direction but Byrd viewed another fight than what was in the ring.
Golovkin (37-0-1) was a persistent stalker throughout, applying relentless pressure, hoping Alvarez (49-1-1) would wilt. But the Mexican never did, valiantly fighting off the ropes and backing up enough to keep from being damaged.
Neither fighter was down, but each was rocked by hard punches that would have finished most opponents. Alvarez landed several uppercuts that rocked Golovkin’s head, while the native of Kazakhstan landed his own crushing blows that have produced 33 knockouts.
Alvarez stayed on the ropes more than expected, something that would have doomed most opponents against Golovkin. But he held his own, countering Golovkin’s looping right with uppercuts to the body.
“There were no surprises,” said Abel Sanchez, Golovkin’s trainer. “We knew going into this it would be a war. Canelo was very resilient.”
Alvarez had a good game plan. He circled Golovkin early in the fight and scored with a hard left jab. Golovkin tried to corner Alvarez in the later rounds, but couldn’t connect with anything hard.
Golovkin began to come forward with more urgency in the middle rounds. Alvarez held up against the relentless pressure, boxing off his back foot and fighting off the ropes. But Golovkin kept coming and kept punching forcing Alvarez to keep up to his incredible pace.
A crunching uppercut by Alvarez failed to slow Golovkin in the seventh. By the later rounds, Golovkin was practically running after Alvarez desperately trying to score a knockout.
But Alvarez proved strong enough and brave enough to hold up to the assault. When the final bell sounded, the two were going toe-to-toe much to the delight of the crowd. Byrd ruined it all with her ridiculous scorecard that only Alvarez would agree with.
“I thought I won the fight,” Alvarez said. “I was superior inside the ring. I won at least seven or eight of the rounds. I was able to counterpunch and even make Gennady Golovkin wobble a couple of times.”
A rematch certainly will be discussed and could be held next May. The contract called for a rematch if Golovkin won, but not if Alvarez won. “It’s up to the people if we fight again,” Alvarez said. “I feel frustrated over this draw.”
So was everyone else.