GGG & Canelo Alvarez will be battling it out for Golovkin’s unified middleweight world title, but for now; they’re sparring over GGG’s meaning of just what exactly a Mexican fighter’s style is.
GGG basically says it’s a courageous, power puncher who will take unnecessary punishment just to land a big punch, and Canelo (who is an actual Mexican fighter) sternly disagrees and let it be known so, via Boxing Scene:
“When Golovkin or a lot of his fans refer to fighting “Mexican style” it is describing a style in which a fighter is gutsy, comes forward aggressively, is throwing power punches just to throw them and engages in unnecessary exchanges. I would argue that GGG’s definition of “Mexican Style” isn’t completely correct.”
“If you look at all the great Mexican fighters who have become world renowned world champions like Salvador “Chava” Sanchez, Erik “El Terrible” Morales, Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Márquez, and Ricardo “Finito” Lopez just to name a few, they weren’t the biggest brawlers – they were intelligent with their boxing, were able to outclass their opponents and knew how to use their bodies to achieve their victories.”
Canelo continued & offered up what he believes it really means to have a Mexican fighter’s swagger:
“I would argue that a Mexican Warrior is one that has heart, passion, and fights with all he has until the very end with intuition and intelligence. A Mexican warrior will not die in the line of fire, but will cunningly be three steps ahead of his opponent. No one can teach you to be a warrior. It’s something innate that unites all Mexicans – that fire is what propels us to survive and thrive.”
Survive and thrive…I like that. This fight truly has the makings of an instant classic. If you were one of those boxing fans who felt disrespected by the “farce” that was Mayweather’s glorified practice session vs McGregor, this is most definitely the fight for you.
Canelo vs. Golovkin takes place Saturday, September 16 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 8pm est.