Canelo Alvarez can count himself fortunate to hold just a few losses on his pro boxing record, in part thanks to a rather controversial scorecard dished out in his favor.
In the midst of an impressive six-fight winning spree off the back of his decision loss to the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather, Mexican icon Canelo Alvarez had captured the WBC and The Ring middleweight crowns with a win over Miguel Cotto.
And defending that crown against British talent Amir Khan, Canelo would feature in a catchweight clash with a compatriot.
Off the back of a routine win, Canelo would kickstart one of the most infamous trilogies in modern boxing history.
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Canelo Alvarez’s controversial robbery against Gennady Golovkin
Kicking off his rivalry with veteran megastar Gennady Golovkin on this day in 2017, former undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo can count himself lucky to emerge with his winning spree intact off the back of their first pairing.
In a grudge trilogy spanning a whopping five years, Jalisco star Canelo would vie for the WBA, WBC, and IBF middleweight titles against Kazakhstan native Golovkin during their first pairing.
Fighting to a split draw over the course of 12 rounds, Canelo found himself on the receiving end of an infamous scorecard of 118-110 issued by Adelaide Byrd — in a pairing billed as one of the most controversial “robberies” in the history of the sport.
Following the controversial result to boot, Byrd was accused by Golovkin’s-then coach Abel Sanchez of having filled in her scorecard before the bout even commenced.
“I thought that one of the judges had her card filled out before she came to the fight,” Sanchez said of Byrd during a post-fight press conference.
“But that’s unfortunate, that in Vegas, they seem to go to different schools to learn how to judge a fight,” Sanchez explained.
Canelo Alvarez’s rematch and trilogy with Gennady Golovkin
Immediately landing a rematch with Kazakh star Golovkin the following year — almost to the day of their first matchup, Canelo once more counted himself lucky.
Taking home a majority decision win on that occasion over the course of 12 more rounds, scoring his 50th professional victory and inflicting the first defeat of Golovkin’s career.
Given the close nature of their rematch, too, the duo were tied to an immediate trilogy clash.
However, four years would pass before the duo locked horns again, with Canelo emerging with bragging rights in a 2022 clash with Golovkin, sending the latter into retirement with a unanimous decision victory.
from Bloody Elbow https://ift.tt/mPoAwCG
