To Watch Ggg Versus Canelo Near the Pnc Arts Center

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  Mike CoppingerESPN

LAS VEGAS -- Canelo Alvarez stood in the center of the ring draped with four earth titles. At long last, he was the undisputed super middleweight champion, accomplishing the goal he set out when he commenced his 168-pound campaign in December 2020.

The 11th-round TKO victory over Caleb Institute in November to win all 4 major earth titles lifted the Mexican star to new heights. Already cemented as an all-fourth dimension great with unified title runs at 154 and 160 pounds, an undisputed championship at 168 and a title victory at 175, what more was left to accomplish?

That question has become the guiding force to how Alvarez is currently navigating his career. His mantra: "Go on to make history."

As boxing's top allure, Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) calls the shots and fights whomever he wants. He already has mapped out his 2022 campaign, a shift from by years when he often scrambled to maintain his selection fight weekends equally negotiations dragged on.

First, Alvarez will embark on a quest to recapture a lite heavyweight championship on Saturday at T-Mobile Loonshit here against Russia's Dmitry Bivol (8 p.m. ET, DAZN PPV), but the fight that will truly add to his legacy lies alee. If Alvarez defeats Bivol -- and emerges without injury -- he'll meet archnemesis Gennadiy Golovkin on Sept. 17.

"They want the fight with Golovkin, then I say, 'Why not?'" Alvarez said. "Everybody wants the fight, right? Maybe a little late; maybe non."

The long-awaited trilogy matchup -- four years in the making -- is "for the fans," Alvarez said, only it also volition serve to settle unfinished business organisation after 24 rounds couldn't separate the future Hall of Famers. The 3rd bout with GGG is simply a detour from his ultimate goal, though. This fight with Bivol at 175 pounds sets him on a path to capture an undisputed championship in a second weight grade, a feat no homo has accomplished in the four-chugalug era (outset in the early 2000s).

"I like the thought to be undisputed at 175," Alvarez said. "I'll fight everybody. I don't f---ing care."

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WHEN ALVAREZ Made his pro debut in September 2005, he was a scrawny 15-yr-quondam who weighed 139 pounds.

Now, at age 31, he is ESPN'south pound-for-pound No. 1 boxer and the sport's pinnacle draw past an every bit wide margin, having won titles in four different divisions, only the fourth Mexican fighter to achieve that feat.

His past four bouts -- title victories over Caleb Plant, Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith -- were contested at 168 pounds. More than 2½ years later making his low-cal heavyweight debut in a victory over Sergey Kovalev, Alvarez returns to light heavyweight, and if he is concerned well-nigh going up in weight, he isn't letting on.

"Ever walking around 180 [pounds]," he said. "I don't go upward; I only lose less pounds."

This calorie-free heavyweight championship claiming comes against a lengthy fighter with an excellent jab. Different Kovalev, Bivol is in his prime at 31, only Bivol possesses neither the power nor accomplishments of Kovalev, now 39.

Bivol'southward biggest win is a about-shutout decision over current titleholder Joe Smith Jr. in March 2019. Since then, Bivol (nineteen-0, 11 KOs), has competed but 3 times, all decision victories over boxers ranked exterior ESPN's top x at 175 pounds.

So why pick Bivol over other, more than recognizable fighters who could potentially deliver a bigger event? Lack of pinnacle-flight opposition aside, Alvarez insists Bivol, non unified champion Artur Beterbiev, is the best light heavyweight in the earth.

"I think he's a amend boxer, he have more skills than Beterbiev," Alvarez said. "Beterbiev's a really expert fighter; strong, always go forward. But I think Bivol is a really practiced fighter with a lot of experience."

A win on Saturday -- Alvarez is a 5-1 favorite, per Caesars Sportsbook -- would motility Alvarez ane step closer to his goal. Beterbiev, ESPN'southward No. ane low-cal heavyweight, is scheduled to encounter Smith on June xviii in a 3-belt unification.

"I like the idea [of fighting the winner]," Alvarez said. "My best weight is 168 ... simply I feel really practiced at 175 besides. I feel strong."

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WHEN ALVAREZ MET Golovkin in September 2017, it was the biggest moneymaking event of Alvarez'southward career. After a controversial separate draw in the first fight and a close majority decision win for Alvarez in the rematch a year later, the bad claret was boiling.

Much of it can be traced dorsum to the rematch. Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) -- forth with seemingly the consensus of the viewing public -- believed he deserved the nod. Complicating matters was Adalaide Byrd's outlandish 118-110 scorecard in favor of Alvarez. The rematch was set for May 2018, merely Alvarez tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol, an adverse finding he blamed on tainted meat consumed in Guadalajara, United mexican states.

Golovkin didn't buy the alibi.

"I am comfortable knowing I won those fights," Golovkin, xl, told ESPN in March before his ninth-circular TKO of Ryota Murata. "I do not look back at the decisions."

The phase was fix for a 3rd fight, just things changed apace.

Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Male child Promotions, Alvarez'due south and then-promoter, signed Alvarez to an 11-fight, $365 million pact with DAZN. The deal all but guaranteed Alvarez and Golovkin would meet in a trilogy on the platform.

In March 2019, Golovkin signed a six-fight bargain with DAZN worth approximately $100 1000000. The agreement contained a carve-out with terms attached for an Alvarez fight. It appeared to exist a fait accompli the highly anticipated grudge match would land that year.

There was just i issue: Alvarez's own deal with Golden Boy didn't contain the same language regarding a trilogy bout.

"Later on the rematch, when anybody wanted to see a third fight, he did everything he could to avoid it," said Golovkin, ESPN'due south No. 2 middleweight.

Iv years and eight pounds since their last meeting, the rematch appears to be fix -- an opportunity for Alvarez to cement his legacy with a clear victory over his archrival and end the controversy once and for all.

"A lot of bad things [Golovkin] say well-nigh me," Alvarez told ESPN when asked why it'southward personal. "Like Eddie Hearn say, but simple rule: Don't f--- with me."

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THE PATH THAT Alvarez has taken to get to this point has been anything simply simple.

Alvarez'due south long-term bargain with Golden Boy Promotions concluded in a lawsuit. His decision to become a promotional free amanuensis has immune him to secure some of the biggest fights he could imagine over the by few years, ultimately leading to this moment.

Even during that process, he passed on some tantalizing matchups at 168 pounds. PBC, which guaranteed Alvarez $40 million for the fight with Plant, offered Alvarez $45 million for a bout this Saturday versus middleweight champion Jermall Charlo. There was an offer on the table for a bout on Sept. 17 with super middleweight contender David Benavidez or welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. at a catchweight of 164 pounds that would have netted Alvarez $55 1000000.

"I just beat everyone at 168 -- all the champions," Alvarez said. "Right now, I can do whatever I want.

"For me, it don't make sense because they have null to offer me. I just want to continue to brand history, and they take nothing to offer."

Bivol has something to offering: a light heavyweight title that will set Alvarez upward for an undisputed title fight at 175 pounds side by side year. Golovkin has something to offering too: the chance to end one of boxing'southward greatest rivalries for skillful.

After the Golovkin fight, Alvarez is expected to stay busy on December. 17 (perchance his United kingdom debut or a homecoming in Mexico) before he enters 2023 a gratis amanuensis once more. (His current iii-fight deal with Hearn's Matchroom Battle is worth upward to $130 one thousand thousand.)

There remains plenty of history for Alvarez to brand, and he's but striking his footstep. Alvarez said he is interested in a cruiserweight title fight next year. He even teased a heavyweight title challenge of Oleksandr Usyk at 201 pounds. Possibly Alvarez will add to his Hall of Fame résumé with wins over Benavidez and Charlo. Perhaps fifty-fifty Spence, eventually.

New fighters are emerging all the time, simply Alvarez said he isn't going anywhere.

"I want to fight all my life," Alvarez said. "Maybe vi, seven years.

"I beloved boxing. I love what I exercise. Boxing is function of my life."

Before he enters the next stage in his career, Alvarez has one task alee of him: Defeating the homo standing between him and the grudge match the sport has waited likewise long for. And what'south more history-making than definitively catastrophe a great rivalry?

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Source: https://bluzz.org/i-ll-fight-everybody-canelo-alvarez-plots-out-his-path-to-history-3065941.html

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