Mexican unified Super Middleweight world champion Saúl Álvarez (58-2-2, 39 KO’s) faced little resistance from former world champion Gennady Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KO’s) en-route to a dominating win that culminated in Álvarez retaining his Super Middleweight titles. Álvarez won by unanimous decision.

The two had met each other two times in the past; once in 2017 after a match that ended in a draw, and in 2018 when Saúl Álvarez managed to win by majority decision. The result marks this as Golovkin’s second career loss, with his first loss also attributed to Álvarez.

Kazakhstan’s Golovkin – 40 years old – looked his age as he failed to keep up with Álvarez’ workrate who labored hard to win every round. Álvarez looked much the same as he did in his previous win against Golovkin, preferring to work on the inside and let his physical attributes determine the outcome, yet his performance was somewhat lackluster compared to his previous fights as he didn’t seem to ramp up his workrate enough to get the knockout he had been teasing prior to the fight.

While Golovkin did prove once more to have the most durable chin in boxing by not getting knocked out, or even knocked down, during their fight, he was also much less active as opposed to his previous fights with Álvarez. Álvarez set the pace from the first round to the last, and he benefited largely from Golovkin being less active and more defensive than expected. Golovkin rallied much too late in the match, and his unspontaneous bursts of energy couldn’t prevent Álvarez from winning on the scorecards.

According to himself, Álvarez indicated he had been partially struggling with lingering injuries that that sprung up after his unification bout with former IBF world champion Caleb Plant. Questions were also raised in the post-press conference about his apparent tendency to not fight Mexican fighters, and rumors that he was avoiding David Benavidez because of that.

“When I say, I don’t want to fight Mexicans, it’s because I represent Mexico. And that’s why. But I don’t care. I’ll fight anybody. My entire life, I fight anybody.” Saúl Álvarez explained.

“I hear his (Benavidez’) dad talk a lot of sh**. But look at what he’s accomplished. Nothing. One single champion, Anthony Dirrell. Please don’t disrespect myself. Please, guys.”

Álvarez further went on to explain that he would take some well-deserved rest and return in May or September, depending on how his body healed. When asked – or led on, in the way the question was phrased – on what he thought his rivals should do while Saúl Álvarez was resting, the Mexican responded with a curt but powerful response: “I don’t f***ing care.”