Breaking Down Canelo vs. GGG II

The time for talk and speculating are almost up, but the anticipation continues to rise as the sport of boxing reaches fight week, days before the scheduled bout between middleweight rivals: Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gennady "GGG" Golovkin. It was just a year ago, when both fighters were preparing to face off on Mexican Independence Day, while some fans and media called that match up a potential brawl, or ideal 'fight of the year" candidate. Instead, we were left with a technical and somewhat strenuous fight to score, leaving the sport full of controversy in and out of the ring. One question remains the same, and that is: who will emerge victorious?

That answer may be harder to resolve now than last year, as both Alvarez and Golovkin have established a sense of familiarity with each other and their arsenal. To sum that up: the pressure from Golovkin, the counter-punching from Alvarez and the durability of both boxers are what transpired. Today, I will discuss keys to victory, on top of this writers prediction on the rematch this Saturday.

Keys to Vctory -

Gennady Golovkin: *Bodywork and inside fighting.* GGG will have to execute his aggression towards Canelo in a similar approach, but with a few adjustments. The times GGG had Canelo against the ropes ordered a lot more straight crosses and left hooks downstairs than what spectators visualized. Punching through the guard and shoulders against Canelo may prove too difficult while he's backpedaling, but Gennady needs to dictate that pace. He cannot win this fight with a jab by itself.

Saul Alvarez: *Stick and move + more counter-punching.* It's safe to say Canelo found a good amount of success using the ring, rolling punches and countering GGG. Simply, not enough of those counters, or punches were thrown in general and he needs a higher pace of output. It's unwise to pursue and utilize outside fighting against GGG, but it's clear that Canelo needs to turn it up more this time around in the rematch.

To be fair, both fighters executed solid plans when they faced each other in 2017. Each boxer has equal room for improvement and calling a fight of this magnitude may be hard for some, especially this being a rematch with "bad intentions" between the boxers. This writer had picked Golovkin' to defeat Alvarez in the first meeting, but what about this time?

In this article, Canelo is the pick for Saturdays main event. He is the younger boxer with more agile movement, as well as being able to take Gennady's punches. Alvarez is the fighter with faster hands and that motions a better fight going in than before due to not being as intimidated by the power from GGG.

Chris Mealey

Support The Weigh-In: Your Home for Combat Sports by Shopping World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Products!