On Saturday, September 16, two of the world's best boxers will go head-to-head in a fight which will contrast sharply with last month's clash between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
Kazakhstan-born Gennady Golovkin is taking on Mexico's Saul Alvarez for the IBF and WBC world middleweight titles.
Golovkin, who uses the moniker GGG, has never been beaten while Alvarez, whose nickname Canelo (Cinnamon) refers to his ginger hair, has only lost once — to Mayweather.
"It's two boxers — both winning, both far from old, both dangerous. The Mayweather and McGregor fight was great fun, a carnival. This is a proper fight," British boxing expert Steve Bunce told Sputnik.
Fight of the Year
British fighter Kell Brook, who was beaten by Golovkin last year, actually tipped Alvarez to beat him and thinks their ages could be a factor. Alvarez is 27, eight years younger than Golovkin, whose father was Russian and has many fans in Russia.
"We've seen the best of him and I think people actually know — and this is a big factor — he is just human. It's hard to say, but I am leaning towards Canelo. He has excelled over the years; his variation, his speed and his youth," said Brook, who stepped up two weights to fight Golovkin but was stopped in the fifth round and suffered a fractured eye socket.
.@HBO Sports is the fight fan's destination for #CaneloGGG: https://t.co/vSki3dhNTQ pic.twitter.com/YIsZF7XODq
— HBO PR (@HBOPR) 8 September 2017
Earlier this year former world middleweight champion Richie Woodhall said he was looking forward to the fight far more than Mayweather vs McGregor, which ended in predictable defeat for the boxing novice.
"Golovkin against Alvarez will be the fight of the year. Golovkin is a fantastic fighter. He can box on the inside or on the outside and he punches very hard," Woodhall told Sputnik at the time.
Bunce said GGG vs Canelo promised to be a mouth-watering clash and could be right up there with some of the greatest fights he had ever seen at ringside.
"Benn vs McClellan," Bunce told Sputnik, when asked to name the best fight he had ever witnessed.
In that brutal bout Britain's Nigel Benn was knocked out of the ring in the first round but climbed back in and stopped US fighter Gerald McClellan in the 10th round.
Tragically McClellan was rushed to hospital and suffered a brain injury from which he has never fully recovered.
