Canelo vs Golovkin Boxing Odds, Fight Preview and Info

Four of the five middleweight boxing titles are on the line when Gennady Golovkin defends his belts against Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night from Las Vegas. The fight is set for a dozen rounds — and Golovkin is already amping up the talking game. It’s true that 33 of his 37 wins have either come by knockout or technical knockout, and he reflected confidence in his ability to stop fights before they go the distance when he told ESPN, “There are no survivors in my fights.” In his last fight, though, Golovkin had to go to the cards, winning a unanimous decision over Danny Jacobs back in March. With all of the hype building before Saturday’s matchup, let’s decide whether the boxing odds for this matchup should favor Golovkin (-155) or Canelo (+130).

Canelo vs Golovkin Fight Preview, Odds and Info

When: Saturday, September 16th. 8pm ET Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas TV: HBO PPV Live Stream: CaneloGGG.com Boxing Odds: Golovkin -155 / Canelo +130

Why should you Bet on Canelo?

Alvarez doesn’t have the same knockout percentage in his victories, but he has delivered KO or TKO finished in 34 of his 49 wins. So he brings a great deal of striking power on his own. Canelo took on Floyd Mayweather back in 2013, and the now 50-0 retired champ raved about the punching power of the then 23-year- old boxer, saying he was the hardest hitter that he had ever faced. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mayweather suggested that Canelo needs to focus on pounding the body, weakening Golovkin over the course of the fight and then making a KO or TKO possible — if he doesn’t just win on the cards. Alvarez brings in an impressive 50-1 record — with that lone loss coming to Mayweather. In an interview with the Independent, Canelo laments the mistakes that youth brought to him in that bout. In the fights since then, Canelo has not necessarily increased the power of his punches, but he seems to have increased the precision with which he delivers his decisive punches, as the knockouts in which he has left some of his more recent opponents have ended up with them lying on the floor of the ring, out cold, rather than simply stumbling around in a bit of a daze. Canelo can take some encouragement from that Golovkin-Jacobs fight back in March. Golovkin is 35 years old — eight years older than Canelo — and he looked like he ran out of gas against Jacobs. He did win on points, but he looked winded at times and apeared to lack the energy to develop creative solutions against Jacobs. He lacked the energy that Canelo brought against Amir Khan and Liam Smith in 2016 and then again with Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., earlier in 2017. However, Canelo won’t wait back and draw mistakes out like Jacobs did — his style is too aggressive for that sort of strategy.

Why should you put your money on Golovkin?

Golovkin brings a 37-0 record to the ring — and 19 of those have included world title fights, a string that started in 2010 when he won his first middleweight belt in Panama, taking just 58 seconds to deliver the knockout. While Golovkin has held at least one of the middleweight titles, 22 of the other boxers have held at least one of the other belts, but only three of those have accepted fights with him. The fact that he has intimidated so many other contenders is a testament to the power of his punches. Another element to consider with Golovkin is that iron chin. He has taken some punishment from opponents during his career — you can’t have that aggressive style that leads to knockouts without taking some significant risk on your own end. However, he has only faced a handful of knockdowns over the course of that career. While Alvarez might have the better defensive tactics of the two fighters, Golovkin has the advantage on offense.

Previous Boxing Odds and Results

Gennady Golovkin

• Win – vs. Daniel Jacobs. Unanimous Decision. Odds at -480
• Win – vs. Kell Brook. TKO. Odds at -750
• Win – vs. Dominic Wade. KO Odds at -7000
• Win – vs. David Lemieux. TKO. Odds at -1300
• Win – vs. Willie Monroe Jr.. TKO. Odds at -2500

Canelo Alvarez

• Win – vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Unanimous Decision. Odds at -425
• Win – vs. Liam Smith. TKO. Odds at -1400
• Win – vs. Amir Khan. KO. Odds at -650
• Win – vs. Miguel Cotto. Unanimous Decision. Odds at -300
• Win – vs. James Kirkland. KO. Odds at -900

Expert Boxing Odds Pick and Final Prediction

With two power punchers coming into the ring, I don’t expect this to be the defensive sort of fight that goes to the cards. I see Golovkin returning to form after that disappointing outcome in March — in which he was criticized for the way that he won — and delivering a TKO against Alvarez.