The fight took place on 18 September, Sunday night at the T-mobile arena. Dave Moretti, Steve Weisfeld, and David Sutherland were the judges for the fight. The fight kicked off similarly to their second encounter, where Canelo came out swinging and GGG maintained a sharp defense. The first round concluded with Canelo being the dominant puncher. Gennady showed some refined skills in his jabbing abilities where he landed most of his jabs on Canelo’s chin.
The fight continued and Gennady started slowing down. For the next 8 rounds, Gennady mainly depended on his jabs and lost nearly all the rounds but his jabs had some power behind them. In the 9th round, Gennady showed what his strategy was based upon, his jabs had been having a toll on Canelo, and combining them with a tight right hook, GGG momentarily put his opponent in trouble. But Canelo had a granite chin and took it very well. The bell concluded the 9th and this was the round where GGG had dominated. In the 10th, Canelo came with some combinations under his sleeve and rocked Golovkin a few times.
The fight was a splendid spectacle but sadly it did not go well for GGG. His age, now 40, had a major impact on his performance. The Golovkin of old times did not show much in this fight. His main weaponry was his precise jabs which alone could not win him the fight against a much younger Canelo. GGG lacked his conventional uppercuts, fierce overhands, and hooks. His agility past half fight was shockingly damaged and his head movement did not help much as he took most of the body and headshots.
The fight concluded after 12 rounds and the decision went to the judges since there was no knockout. The judges scored 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of the Mexican.
Both the boxers showed pure skill and proved their chins to be made of granite. They both took some serious beatings throughout the match and Canelo got the better of it. In a post-fight interview, Gennady was asked about his plans for retirement to which he answered “the fire still burns within” and turned down any speculations about retiring any time soon. The 40-year-old boxer will continue to fight and fans are excited to see him in the ring once again.
