The texts flooded this reporter’s phone immediately after the decision was rendered in the middleweight championship fight between Gennady Golovkin from Kazakhstan and Canelo Alvarez from Mexico in Las Vegas Saturday night.
The match ended in a controversial and unjustifiable draw, with scorers producing distinctly disparate cards. Adelaide Byrd was the primary source of outrage and disbelief, giving Alvarez a ridiculous and decisive 118-110 victory. Dave Moretti scored it 115-113 for Golovkin and Don Trella saw it as a 114-114 draw.
As a result, Golovkin (37-0-1) held on to his World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation middleweight belts. As expected, negotiations for a rematch are already underway.
“I knew some BS like this was going to happen,” read one message.
“This is why people think boxing is suspect,” another longtime boxing fan commented.
Although the fight was gripping and filled with stirring exchanges between the two talented opponents, the outcome further eroded the credibility of the sport. It was in line with the absurd decision delivered in the Manny Pacquiao versus Jeff Horn WBO welterweight championship fight this past July, in which Horn was awarded a borderline criminal 117-111, 115-113, 115-113 win in a fight Pacquiao clearly won.
“It puts a huge stain on boxing,” said Jerome Syville, producer of the sports show “Sports New York Style.” Syville has covered numerous championship fights live and was at the Alvarez-Julio Cesar Jr. match at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in May.
“Literally, as soon as the fight was over [a fight in which Alvarez dominated Chavez both in the ring and on the scorecards] an advertisement for the Golovkin-Canelo fight was put up on the screen in the arena,” said Syville. “I was speaking with fans who couldn’t believe it. Based on how passive Chavez fought against Canelo and the fact the promo went up immediately, a lot of people seriously thought the fix was in.”
Such is the view of many who once considered themselves die-hard boxing fans but have soured on the sport because of a lack of transparency and authentic mega-fights between combatants in their primes. Unsurprisingly, Alvarez’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, was in full hype mode as soon as the fight was over.
“This is the most exciting fight that fans have seen in years,” he said with unabashed exaggeration. “Obviously, it begs for a rematch.”
Maybe he didn’t see the Anthony Joshua versus Wladimir Klitschko heavyweight title fight held last April. More likely, he was doing what promoters do, seeking an even bigger payday for himself and his fighter at the fans’ expense.