What strategies could Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin use in the rematch?

It’s been a year since the controversial match up between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin left onlookers with a bitter taste in their mouths. Despite having it’s moments of excitement, the fight didn’t play out exactly as everyone hoped. Fans were hoping for a slugfest between two of the greatest boxers of the modern era. The score cards at the end of the battle also told a very different story than what manner observers saw during the night of the fight.

Nevertheless, Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin battled to a draw and now we’ll have a chance to see the two once again go to war this weekend. What makes this match up all the sweeter is the bad blood that the two have now developed since their first meeting. Canelo Alvarez is angry about the ridicule dumped on him by the Golovkin camp since popping for performance enhancing drugs. Now the bout has become personal, which will only build anticipation heading into a bout that the boxing world was already excited about.

Canelo Alvarez

In the first fight Canelo Alvarez did a superb job of countering Golovkin’s offense with powerful body shots, namely the left hook and right uppercut, which would eventually diminish the gas tank of ‘GGG’. This approach should likely be carried over in the rematch, with some tweaks to the game plan in order to take a clear cut victory.

First, Canelo should look to stay off the ropes in this match up. While continuing to counter on the outside is likely the approach he’ll want to stick to, Canelo can’t afford to spend rounds leaning against the ropes while Golovkin throws steady offense. While he may need to use the ropes in order to get a bit of respite, Canelo has to be more urgent in creating space and circling off of the ropes to regain the center of the ring. A hard uppercut up the middle and left hook onto Golovkin’s right glove to keep his power hand busy, and Canelo should pivot out away from the ropes and get back to work.

Canelo should also look to push Golovkin back during the fight as well. The Mexican boxing star had great success any time he held his ground and countered in the center of the ring. Largely absent was Canelo’s jab in the first battle so he’ll want to use a steady diet of lead hand shots, feints, and counters in order to push Golovkin back and score big power shots.

Gennady Golovkin

On the flip side of the coin we have the powerful pressure fighter Gennady Golovkin, a man who has a ninety percent finishing ratio, picking up 38 wins, 34 of those coming by way of knockout. Golovkin is the naturally bigger man in this fight and arguably the harder puncher as well. That said, ‘GGG’ should look to continue to use his best weapon: the jab.

A great deal of Golovkin’s power punches stem from his masterful use of the jab to set up shots. It’s a low energy punch that allows him to get into his opponent’s space, all the while setting up his fight ending power shots. But rather than focus all of his offense upstairs to the head, Golovkin should instead vary his jabs to the body as well, coming back up top with either another jab or a powerful right straight left hook combination. If he makes a serious effort in attacking the body in the early rounds he could turn the tables on Canelo who sometimes fades in the middle rounds.

Golovkin should also look to put on the pressure and throw more feints in this match up. In the first fight he was so hungry for the knockout punch that it ultimately eluded him and got him countered instead. Golovkin should use his offense and feints to draw out Canelo’s counter, take a step back, then enter again with powerful shots of his own. Canelo will still be the counter focused fighter, but if Golovkin can put doubt in his opponents mind as to when to return fire then it will give the Kazakhstan native a great deal of confidence particularly in the middle and latter stages of the match.

Who do you think wins the rematch between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin?

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