One month before their much-anticipated rematch, unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez were both within the WBC’s prescribed weight limit on Tuesday.
At his 30-day weight check at his training camp in Big Bear Lake, California, Golovkin weighed 168.3 pounds, well below the 176-pound limit allowed this far out from their 160-pound world championship fight. Alvarez, training for the fight at his compound in San Diego, was 167.4 pounds.
“Gennady is always in shape. No excuses,” trainer Abel Sanchez said. “Gennady is a professional and he treats his world championship reign as a professional whether he is in training or not. That’s why he has been a world champion since 2010.”
The rivals meet on Sept. 15–Mexican Independence Day weekend — at the T-Mobile Arena, the same venue where they fought to a highly controversial draw last September in a fight most thought Golovkin won.
“One thing you can count on with Gennady, he saves the big drama show for the fight not for training camp,” said Tom Loeffler, Golovkin’s promoter. “He is already at the WBC’s seven-day weight limit [168 pounds]. Gennady pressed the action in his first fight against Canelo, out-landing Canelo in 10 of the 12 rounds they fought. This time around, Gennady is determined to out-land him in every round for as long as the fight lasts.”
Golovkin will be looking to retain his world title for the 21st consecutive time, which would break the middleweight division record he currently shares with Bernard Hopkins, one of Alvarez’s promoters as a partner in Golden Boy Promotions.
The Golovkin-Alvarez rematch was supposed to take place on May 5, but Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs), 28, of Mexico, was suspended because he failed two drug tests in February for the banned performance-enhancing drug clenbuterol. The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended him for six months, a ban that ends later this month.
While Alvarez will be fighting for the first time in a year — and also is coming off knee surgery — Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs), 36, a Kazakhstan native living in Santa Monica, California, faced short-notice replacement opponent Vanes Martirosyan on May 5 and knocked him out in the second round.
-ESPN