Gennadiy Golovkin won his fight April 9, playing his part in setting up a mega-match later this year.- Should
Saul Alvarez defeat Dmitri Bivol on May 7 a Canelo vs. Triple-G bout could take place in September.
Gennadiy Golovkin beat Ryota Murata by knockout in a middleweight world title unification match earlier this month, doing his part to set up a lucrative trilogy bout against longtime rival Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez later this year.
Murata started the April 9 fight in fast fashion, forcing Golovkin to make a mid-fight adjustment to score a ninth-round stoppage at Tokyo's Saitama Super Arena — a result that saw the Kazakhstani fighter add the WBA belt to his IBF and IBO titles.
Should Alvarez defeat Dmitri Bivol in a light heavyweight bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on May 7, then the third installment in Canelo's saga with Golovkin could be held in September.
Speaking to Insider from his Los Angeles office before he joined Triple-G in Tokyo, boxing promoter Tom Loeffler said Alvarez may have sensed an opportune moment to engage Golovkin in a third and potentially final fight.
The rivals fought in 2017 — a bout that was scored a draw, though most observers regarded Golovkin as the winner — before running it back in 2018, a fight which yielded an Alvarez win.
"I think Canelo looks at it like it's safe to get back into the waters again" with Golovkin, Loeffler said.
"Clearly, in the first fight, the majority of the people thought Triple-G won the fight, and it's a disputed loss in the second fight, where it should have been a draw. One judge had it a draw."
Loeffler believes this could have represented a 'Sliding Doors' moment as, had Golovkin been awarded the decisions, then he may be reigning over the top of the sport right now, rather than Alvarez — the current pound-for-pound king.
"Triple-G pushed Canelo the most," out of any of Alvarez's opponents, according to Loeffler.
He added: "If you look at Canelo, clearly being regarded as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, but if Triple-G had gotten those decisions then he should be at the top of it.
"That's how close those fights were, and it's just that style match-up makes for tremendous fights," Loeffler said. "I think a third fight certainly won't disappoint the fans if it does in fact happen."
The rivalry is a personal one for both fighters
"It's become kind of personal between the two," Loeffler said of the Golovkin and Canelo rivalry.
It wasn't always that way. According to the promoter, the two fighters sparred early on in their respective careers. It was before Golovkin had even had his HBO debut.
Up in the Big Bear mountains, they exchanged slugs and, apparently, "had a lot of respect for each other" and recognized the talents that the other had.
Over the years, though, things changed.
Alvarez tested positive for the banned drug clenbuterol in 2018. The Canelo camp blamed suspect meat, according to ESPN.
"Gennadiy was pretty outspoken" about the drug test, Loeffler said. "And Canelo seemed to take offense at some of his comments.
"Because of that, the second fight became more personal," said Loeffler.
"That's one of the reasons Canelo used to not fight him sooner, but I think Canelo now looks at it that it might be safe to get back in the ring with the toughest guy he's ever fought."