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Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is without a doubt the biggest star in the world of professional boxing. The 33-year-old is the Undisputed Super Middleweight World Champion and has racked up a whopping 59 victories throughout his nearly two-decade-long career. The only blemishes on his record are defeats to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Dmitry Bivol, as well as draws with Gennady Golovkin and unheralded Mexican fighter Jorge Juarez.
He returns to the ring on September 30th as he defends his super middleweight straps against former light middleweight king Jermell Charlo. Platforms that allow you to bet on Canelo Alvarez vs. Jermell Charlo list the Mexican sensation as the short-priced favorite for the contest, and many think that the bout will be a one-sided affair. However, Canelo has been upset before, and he should have a few more losses on his record than the two currently registered.
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash
Gennady Golovkin Robbed of Crowning Moment
Back in 2017, there was one fight that the boxing world wanted to see: Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs. Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin. The former had become the biggest pay-per-view star in the sport following the retirement of Floyd Mayweather, and he had proceeded to tear through the middleweight division. However, fight fans considered Kazakh star Golovkin the legitimate champion at 160 pounds, and many thought his Mexican nemesis was avoiding him.
The feared knockout artist had defeated the likes of Daniel Jacobs, Kell Brook, and David Lemieux throughout a dominant run that saw him build up a record of 37-0, with all but four of those victories coming by way of knockout. As such, it was clear to see why many thought he was being avoided. However, Canelo silenced those doubters when he and Golovkin reached an agreement for a contest in September 2017.
Once the action got underway, Golovkin surprised many with his boxing ability. Despite being a feared knockout artist, he also had underrated boxing skills as demonstrated by the 345 victories he picked up throughout his amateur career. In the eyes of many, he built up a huge lead on the scorecards throughout the first half of the bout, and despite a late rally from Canelo, many thought that GGG had done more than enough to get the victory.
Unfortunately, the three judges at ringside weren’t in agreement. One of them scored the bout for Golovkin, the other inexplicably scored it 118-110 Canelo, and the final judge scored the bout a draw, meaning that the contest would finish as a split draw. To make matters worse, the duo would square off in a rematch a year later, and Canelo would get the nod and secure a majority decision victory. Even though the Mexican fighter did improve, many still thought that Golovkin did enough to get the victory once more.
Erislandy Lara Controls the Action But Still Loses
Canelo is no stranger to picking up contentious victories. Five years prior to those back-to-back bouts with GGG, he faced off against Cuba’s former amateur sensation Erislandy Lara in a non-title matchup. The Mexican fighter was heavily favored to get the victory however, the Cuban boxed from the outside throughout, peppering his shorter opponent with jabs and 1-2’s.
Alvarez did have his moments, and when he had Lara pinned up against the ropes he went to work on the body, landing some devastating shots. The bout was a drab affair primarily of Lara’s approach however, many thought he still did enough to win. Once again, however, the judges didn’t see it that way, handing Canelo a razor-thin split-decision victory.
