Gennady Golovkin Has ‘Nothing Left To Prove,’ Should Retire: Boxing Analyst

Canelo Alvarez faced Gennady Golovkin for a third time Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. But while fans were hoping for an explosive slugfest, that hardly happened, with the Mexican dominating the Kazakhstani pug en route to a unanimous decision victory.

In an exclusive interview with PTV Sports, international boxing analyst Ryan Songalia said that in most trilogies, there is always one fight that ends up being “a dud,” and he believes the third meeting between Alvarez and Golovkin was it.

“This was that one, unfortunately. It came at a time when Golovkin may be able to put his foot on the gas pedal, but the wheels just were spinning in place. That is what we saw tonight. He’s 40 years old, [but] he looked more like he was 50 years old, 60 years old, at times,” Songalia stated.

Songalia claimed that Golovkin just “couldn’t thread the needle” and “couldn’t pull the trigger” during the fight, noting that the boxer’s reflexes appeared to have slowed.

“In boxing, once they (reflexes) slow a little bit, that’s it. That’s the difference between being able to get to the target or not,” he added.

Unlike Golovkin, however, Alvarez was “very sharp” and “looking to prove something” after losing to Dmitry Bivol, the boxing analyst noted. Alvarez lost to the Russian in May in a WBA (Super) light heavyweight title at the same venue.

“I don’t think Canelo proved what he would have needed to prove. But I think he had a ‘feel good’ moment for his Mexican fans on Mexican Independence Day Parade weekend,” Songalia added.

After seeing Golovkin’s latest fight, Songalia said he thinks that it is time for the boxer to consider retirement.

“I hope he retires. I would actually just want to see him walk away. For a lot of boxers, getting that big payday against the biggest stars in boxing is the gold watch. He has gotten three of those kinds of fights against Canelo Alvarez, who is still, at this point, the cash cow,” the boxing analyst said.

“So there is nowhere else for him to go. Yes, he still has a belt at 160-pounds. But there is nothing really left for him to prove at this point. He is 40, he is going to be a future Hall of Famer. He should be able to walk away … with a ton of money in his bank account,” Songalia added.

Alvarez won handily Saturday, with a judge scoring the fight 115-113 and another scoring it 116-112 in his favor, RingTV reported.