The confrontation between Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin has become one of the main events in the world of boxing in recent years.
The first two fights caused a huge stir, and not the most unambiguous refereeing decisions only contributed to an increase in the level of interest in their rivalry.
And although it seemed that the Mexican put an end to this duel four years ago, many fans wanted to see the third series and hoped that the 40-year-old Kazakhstani would still be able to take advantage of the gaps in the Mexican's game.
Especially after the Russian Dmitry Bivol did it.
And yet, Golovkin's chances of success could not be called high.
Both age and not the most successful performances in recent battles spoke against him.
Whether the athlete himself admitted it or not, in his case, the years gradually took their toll, which both Sergey Derevyanchenko and Ryota Murata perfectly demonstrated.
Yes, the Kazakhstani took the upper hand in both fights, and completely knocked out the Japanese, but he no longer seemed such an excellent boxer as before.
He was not so good throughout all 12 rounds, he missed a lot, and in the battle with the Ukrainian he was completely close to the first knockdown.
And in light of the duel with Alvarez, known for his masterful work on the body, this was clearly not the best sign.
And the rise to the second middleweight obviously could hardly benefit him.
Gennady spent his entire career in the lower division and it was difficult to imagine how this would affect his endurance.
Together, this elevated Canelo to the status of a clear favorite for the confrontation and forced many experts to proclaim him the winner in advance.
Even Konstantin Tszyu, who sympathized with his opponent, preferred the Mexican, although he expected that the Kazakhstani would be able to compete seriously.
Most expected to see not only the total dominance of Alvarez, but also the first knockout defeat in Golovkin's career.
In particular, the future opponent of Bivol, Gilberto Ramirez, and the WBC and WBO featherweight world champion Shakur Stevenson thought so.
On the eve of the show, Kazakhstani coach Jonathan Banks rightly assumed that the third fight between Alvarez and Golovkin would not be like the previous two, arguing that the evolution of both athletes in recent years.
And confirmation of this was already found in the first rounds, during which Gennady was unusually cautious and preferred not to put pressure on Saul, but to work more as the second number.
It is difficult to say whether this was a coaching idea or a natural response to the active actions of the absolute world champion in the category up to 76.2 kilograms, but all this did not benefit the applicant.
In the previous two fights, the amount of work Golovkin did was amazing.
According to the CompuBox portal, in the first battle he threw a total of 703 hits, and in the second he even reached the mark of 879. And although less than a third of the total number reached the target, the difference in the number of accurate hits between opponents was not so colossal ( 218:169 and 234:202 respectively), this gave the Kazakhstani a serious argument in the dispute for the victory.
Let him most often attacked not as accentuated as Alvarez, but he took in quantity.
This time, he hit much less often (521), but at the same time, the percentage of accurate hits did not increase, but, on the contrary, dropped to a record low in the trilogy (23%).
In total, Golovkin hit Alvarez only 120 times - ten less than he missed.
And this is taking into account the fact that Saul's blows carried a much greater danger.
Alvarez confidently controlled the center of the ring, constantly crushed Golovkin and traditionally defended himself well, tightly blocking from attacks.
In the first four rounds, he focused on the “top floor”, and when he “baited” the opponent a little, he began to pay more and more attention to the body.
In the fifth three-minute period, the Mexican hit the liver several times and even shook the Kazakhstani a little, but did not rush forward.
Obviously, mindful of the stamina issues in the fight with Bivol.
Until the ninth round, Alvarez systematically increased his advantage and looked better even in those moments when he took small breaks, as happened in the seventh.
Even then, Golovkin was in no hurry to take the initiative into his own hands, thus causing bewilderment not only among the fans, but also among his coach.
Gradually, Banks began to openly urge the ward to work more actively, but for a long time he did not respond to the calls of the specialist.
Thus, Golovkin could well have approached the final third of the battle, losing with a score of 0:8 in rounds and having no chance of taking the upper hand by a judicial decision.
And only then the applicant finally went forward.
Perhaps he felt tired in the actions of the champion or originally intended to bet on the last segments, but in the current situation it looked very strange.
Yes, let Alvarez slow down a little, but he did not give the impression of a boxer who was exhausted, as he was in the meeting with Bivol.
And although Gennady began to slightly outperform his opponent, there was no talk of dominance.
Due to diligence and constant pressure, Golovkin could well have taken the last four rounds, but this was no longer enough for him.
Only a knockout could help to triumphantly complete the trilogy with Alvarez, but in this case there was no hint of it.
Even though Saul missed a little more at the end of the battle, he stood firmly on his feet and never even went into a state of groggy.
In the last three minutes, he completely tied the enemy hand and foot, guaranteeing himself success.
As a result, all three judges, as expected, sided with Alvarez, and one of them was with an advantage of four points (116:112).
Others were slightly more supportive of Golovkin (115:113), but that didn't matter.
Canelo left no doubt about his superiority and remained the undisputed super middleweight boxing champion of the world.