Gennady Golovkin and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez fought to a draw in the hotly-anticipated world middleweight title showdown in Las Vegas.
Golovkin was bidding to defend his WBC, WBA, IBO and IBF belts against Alvarez in the bout at the T-Mobile Arena.
But the match was controversially deemed too close to call, with the judges declaring a split draw at the end of 12 rounds despite Golovkin appearing to be the dominant force throughout the match.
The scores declared by the judges were: 118-110 (Alvarez), 115-113 (Golovkin) and 114-114.
Golovkin wants a rematch after being denied a 38th straight win of his unbeaten career.
The controversial scorecard of judge Adalaide Byrd, who favoured Alvarez 118-110, sparked outrage on social media.
Bryd gave Golovkin just two rounds of the fight - the fourth and seventh - with the other 10 going to Alvarez.
Golovkin mostly occupied the centre of the ring, while Alvarez was more comfortable near the ropes, content for the most part to counterpunch.
California-based Golovkin, widely known by his nickname 'Triple G', had an edge in jabs, but neither fighter could deliver a knockout.
The result leaves Golovkin with a 37-0-1 career record, while Alvarez is 49-1-2, his only loss coming against Floyd Mayweather in 2013.
Golovkin, 35, also said he wanted a rematch, but the draw means he will hold on to his belts.
It marks Golovkin's 19th title defence, which puts him just one shy of the all-time division record held by Bernard Hopkins.
Golovkin's promoter, Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, is hoping that it doesn't take another two years to put the rematch together.
“There is no question that Gennady won the fight,” said Loeffler. “Because the world was watching and the media was covering, this time, what happens in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas. Saturday’s HBO replay will show that. There are no issues to doing a rematch. I just hope it takes Canelo and Golden Boy less time to do it than it did to make this fight. Enough drama, let’s get them back into the ring. Gennady is a true champion. He runs from no one.”
2023-10-19 13:44:23
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2023-10-19 13:45:11
