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The Official TSS GGG-Canelo II Prediction Page
We surveyed members of our writing community to get their thoughts on Saturday’s mega-fight between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez
We surveyed members of our writing community to get their thoughts on Saturday’s mega-fight between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez. If this survey is any guide, the rematch is a true “pick-‘em” fight. Opinion was split with compelling cases made for each side.
The respondents are listed alphabetically. Comic book cover artist ROB AYALA, whose specialty is combat sports, provided the graphic. Check out more of Ayala’s illustrations at his web site, fight posium.
Matt Andrzejewski
The rematch will resemble the first fight with a few caveats. First, Golovkin will get off to a faster start. He knows what to expect from Canelo and will not be as bothered by his speed in the early going. Ring rust will also be a negative factor for Canelo in the early rounds. The fight will then resemble that of the first fight in the middle to late rounds with Golovkin’s pressure and punching power taking control of the action. The second caveat is the judges will get this right. Golovkin wins by wide unanimous decision.
Rick Assad
On its face, the tussle should be a dandy. A pair of future Hall of Famers in their prime with everything on the line. It should be tight and despite being an underdog I’m picking Canelo to win a split decision based on hand speed, courage and revenge.
Bernard Fernandez
For a fighter with a yen for making boxing history, setting the record for title defenses in the middleweight division figures to be a powerful aphrodisiac. It also doesn’t hurt to feel as if the opponent you hope to set the record against is a drug cheat who deserves a painful comeuppance. Toss those ingredients into the pot, along with Gennady Golovkin’s always-formidable punching power, and the call here is for GGG to score an eighth-round stoppage in what figures to be a good fight with nasty overtures.
Jeffrey Freeman
Canelo Alvarez by decision. We’ve already seen this fight. What it proved is that both boxers are very evenly matched and that a knockout is exceedingly unlikely. The rematch will look a lot like their first twelve rounds. Canelo will counterpunch from range to avoid GGG’s power. Golovkin will look to have done enough to retain his title. The judges say otherwise.
Kid Hersh
Canelo UD. I believe that Canelo will pick up where he left off in the last fight and be able to hit Golovkin while staying elusive enough on defense to get the victory. In addition, Golovkin is getting older and Canelo is coming into his prime.
Arne Lang
I keep flashing back to the two fights between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. The first match was ruled a draw. It caused a big stink. Most everyone thought that Lewis was robbed. The rematch was pretty much a carbon of the first, but the judges were predisposed toward giving Lennox the close rounds to rectify the wrong – the equivalent of a “make-up call” in football – and he won a unanimous decision. Ergo, I suspect that history will repeat. It’s GGG by UD in a very close fight.
Frank Lotierzo
I don’t think GGG can improve from what he showed in the last fight, unless Canelo was really aided by PEDS then and obviously won’t be this time. I’ve always felt GGG was the stronger fighter and should win. The questions are whether he is too old now and whether he can he get the decision if he doesn’t get the stoppage. A loss ends Canelo as a star fighter and that leads me to think Canelo wins and there’s a third fight.
Kelsey McCarson
I was part of the minority of boxing fans who thought Alvarez did enough for the draw in the first fight. I thought Golovkin started off slow and Alvarez eked out the first three rounds, and I’m certain Alvarez took over the fight during the last three rounds, so to me whether you had it close for either fighter, I couldn’t disagree. Since then, Golovkin has done nothing but grow older and get angrier. I guess technically he also trucked the hapless Vanes Martirosyan but I count that as nothing. I think Golovkin will press too much for the knockout in the rematch, and Alvarez will counterpunch him to death to win at least seven or eight of the rounds. My prediction is Alvarez via unanimous decision in one heck of a good scrap.
Matt McGrain
I don’t think that Alvarez will be using performance enhancing drugs for this fight. Therefore, I think Alvarez will lose.
Sean Nam
The newfound enmity between Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin suggests that their rematch will not be short of dramatic moments. But boxing more often disappoints than fulfills its oft-gaudy expectations, and the thinking here is that the fight will end in similar fashion as the first meeting, in the judges’ hands. Stamina has never been Alvarez’s best friend, but should he refrain from holstering his offense for six rounds as he did in the first fight, the rematch will be Alvarez’s to win. He is quicker, craftier, and offensively more creative than the aging ironfisted Golovkin. But stamina is not something you can improve so simply through one camp and power is often the last thing to go away for a fighter. Golovkin by SD.
Tamas Pradarics
I believe the issue with Canelo’s positive tests as well as his brief suspension has made the rematch much bigger, and not just from a financial standpoint. It is clearly personal now for each of these two. And I believe it is Canelo who is in a better position leading up to the biggest PPV event of 2018. The Mexican is younger, fresher, and has a strong motivation to clear his name after all that happened. Also, Alvarez only gets better with age at 28, while Golovkin turned 36 in April. Though I scored the first one 116-112 for GGG, this time I think Canelo can pull off the victory in a fierce battle. My pick is Alvarez by majority decision in a fun fight.
Ted Sares
I see strong similarities to the first fight except that GGG will press earlier this time doing a better job of cutting off the ring. Canelo will do better in the mid-rounds landing the more quality shots. The fight will be decided in the last three rounds as they engage more directly with a possible firefight ensuing. I predict another draw. Two judges split and the other calls it even.
Phil Woolever
Watching the TV broadcast (which to me carries far less scoring validity than seeing a fight live), I thought the initial encounter was much closer than everyone who screamed about Golovkin getting robbed and I had no problem with the draw verdict. If Canelo uses his movement to attack, instead of retreat, he has an even better shot at the upset this time. It really comes down to who absorbed Shawn Porter’s philosophy more last weekend. To win a fight, you should actually fight. Golovkin likely received that message clearer, and it’s more likely he’ll try to prove he actually is the monster that so many people once considered him to be. He may even score a TKO, but he’s going to eat some leather before he does. My main prediction, with nothing against this weekend’s principals, is that whoever wins still isn’t in the same middleweight league as Leonard, Hagler or Hearns.
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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.
The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.
Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.
The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.
An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.
Moses Itauma
Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.
His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.
Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.
Bohachuk-Davis
In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.
Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.
Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.
Fisher-Allen
In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.
Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.
In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.
He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Other Bouts of Note
In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.
A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.
In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.
McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.
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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.
The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.
Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.
The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.
That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.
The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)
Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)
Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.
Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).
Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.
The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.
Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.
Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.
We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”
The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.
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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.
Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.
Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.
Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.
There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.
It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.
Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.
At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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