Gennady Golovkin was just one round away from another draw with Canelo Alvarez in their trilogy fight last night in Las Vegas.
The long-standing rivalry between Alvarez and Golovkin came to a head at the T-Mobile Arena, with the Mexican taking an unanimous decision to go 2-0-1 in the series. But despite a seemingly wide win for the undisputed champion, it was razor-close on the judges' scorecards, which were released in the early hours of the morning.
Judge Dave Moretti scored the fight 116-112 for a decisive Alvarez win, but Steve Weisfeld and David Sutherland were both 115-113, meaning that had Golovkin managed to sneak just one round in the early part of the fight, there would have been a majority draw scored, and the rivalry could have potentially moved to a rare fourth fight.
The first round was essentially a toss up, with Moretti ultimately going with Alvarez, while Weisfeld and Sutherland ended up going with Golovkin. The fight was all the Mexican's for the rest of the first half, with Moretti's sixth round the only one scored in his favour.
Many felt that Alvarez had comfortably won the fight, but he was unfazed by the dodgy scoring, telling reporters after the fight that "I didnt hear the scores. I just heard undisputed champion. I respect the judges and they see that a win is a win..."
However, knowing that he was likely down by a near-insurmountable margin, Golovkin turned it around in the latter part of the bout and rallied to bring the fight to Alvarez. He won three of the final six rounds on Moretti's card, and four on Weisfeld and Sutherland's, to take the rest of the event.
There was an accidental headbutt in the tenth round, which was scored in Golovkin's favour by Weisfeld and Moretti and for Alvarez by Sutherland. But ultimately, the general feeling after the fight was that Alvarez had comfortably won the fight, and could have won by a wider margin than the scorecards make it seem.
"I want to shake hands with Canelo," Golovkin said in his post-fight interview. "Congratulations to all his team. He's a real warrior, if you don't understand that, you don't understand nothing - absolutely [I'll continue fighting]. I have a great plan, a lot of opponents. I'll come back, I'm still a champion."
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Alvarez was also respectful of his long-time rival in the immediate aftermath of the fight, saying: ""Thank you my friend, we gave the fans three great fights... He's strong, he's a great fighter, for me, I'm just glad to share the ring with him. We give the fans three really good fights. I'm glad to be involved in that kind of fight."
The Mexican now appears to be keen to move back up to light-heavyweight, with a Dmitry Bivol rematch the most likely next option. He was defeated by the Russian in a shock result back in May and could face him again in a move back to 175lb where he will look to become world champion again.
Golovkin has a number of options, and still holds two major world titles at middleweight, having gone up to super-middleweight for last night's opportunity. Chris Eubank Jr has already called him out, and there will be a number of other challengers if the 40-year-old opts not to retire.
