Saul Alvarez: ‘Gennady Golovkin ducked fight offer’

He let out a primal scream through his mouth guard, his legs flailing.

Smith is not short of support tonight with a healthy travelling army making the trip over from Liverpool.

The former middleweight champion now boasts an impressive professional record of 48 wins, one draw and only one loss, which came against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Smith, meanwhile, has been tested randomly by UK Anti-Doping, a British Boxing Board of Control-sanctioned agency many British fighters, managers and promoters contend is the most meticulous, effective testing organization in the sport. “He was tough, has a lot of heart”, said Alvarez, 26.

Alvarez recalled “I started going after him, but in the second round I hurt my hand”. After the seventh round knock down, it was clear that Smith was hurt and out for the taking by the raging Alvarez who scored another knockdown in the eighth round. He better respect my power.

Alvarez is a 12-1 favorite over Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs).

Brook cut Smith while sparring for the Alvarez fight which the Mexican opened up before ending the fight in the ninth round. “They need to worry about it, not me”, said Canelo.

“Canelo was too good today”, he admitted.

“I’ve taken this fight because it’s an opportunity to make a name for myself and establish myself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world”.

“I felt he was very strong at the beginning so I had to put in the body work so that slowly he would dwindle”. This fight is exactly the showcase he needs to prove that he can attract a big crowd, no matter the opponent.

Ticket sales were around 40,000 Friday, and Alvarez said it’s especially meaningful to him to fight on Mexican Independence Day weekend in Texas. Sergey Kovalev a friend of GGG also told reporters about the sparring sessions between Canelo and Golovkin and they were even.

“I haven’t talked to him about the fight because what he can do well, I can do well, and what Amir failed to do in the ring, I will not fail to do.”

But right now, Alvarez calls the shots.

In 2010, Manny Pacquiao defended his WBO World Welterweight Championship by beating Joshua Clottey in front of a crowd of 50,944. It was a fight, but not a great one.

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A previous agreement had been leaked by Oscar De La Hoya to make the fight in 2017, although this latest development gives renewed hope that the encounter could be made earlier than in twelve months time.