By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez is no longer concerned about the judges the Nevada State Athletic Commission assigned to score his rematch against Gennady Golovkin on Saturday night.
When Golovkin first learned last month, though, that Dave Moretti will judge their rematch, he didn’t understand the commission’s choice. Moretti was the only judge who scored their first fight for Golovkin (115-113) and is the only judge from that bout who’ll work their rematch, too.
“I never really worried about or started arguing about the judges,” Alvarez said through a translator before a press conference Wednesday at MGM Grand. “I just [have confidence] in the commission and I respect that. But initially, they were gonna leave the judge who gave him the victory in the first fight. And we said, ‘Well, how are you gonna take all the judges, but keep that one judge there?’ But again, I don’t worry about that. I trust the commission and I [have confidence] in them for this fight.”
Their 12-round middleweight title fight resulted in a controversial draw nearly a year ago at T-Mobile Arena. While Nevada’s Moretti scored it for Golovkin, judge Adalaide Byrd infamously gave Alvarez a 118-110 win and Don Trella scored the action even (114-114).
Nevada’s Byrd and Connecticut’s Trella have been replaced with Connecticut’s Glenn Feldman and New Jersey’s Steve Weisfeld for the rematch.
The 28-year-old Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) and the 36-year-old Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) will meet in the main event of HBO Pay-Per-View’s four-fight telecast Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The action is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT for a show that’ll cost $84.99 to watch in HD. Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez said during Wednesday’s press conference that Alvarez and Golovkin will enter the ring for the main event no later than 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.
2023-10-21 18:51:40
