Gennady Golovkin vs. Saúl Álvarez - at last, IB's official RBR

Round 10

Álvarez is starting to command respect in the center of the ring, switching course on Golovkin and stunning both him and the fans with a surge of right hands thrusting straight and high, knocking Golovkin's head back. Golovkin takes over again with his jab when Álvarez fades and needs to regroup, winded. Álvarez is able to block, duck, and weave away from all of Golovkin's power shots. Golovkin not throwing his jab with much authority, just flicking it out in the air to set up his power shots which aren't landing. NICE counter three-piece off the ropes by Álvarez. Some body shots by Álvarez. HUGE right hand loaded up by Golovkin, missing.

10-9 Álvarez, much needed comeback

97-93 Golovkin

 

Lederman now has it 98-92 Golovkin, somehow giving him round 10.

 

Round 11

Álvarez is playing a tactical game now, occupying each square on the chessboard for just a moment, luring Golovkin in and rolling himself into a hedgehog ball to swoop & shimmy off the rails diagonally, sticking a glove in to impale Golovkin on the way in. Both men just grazing, Álvarez slightly cleaner. Golovkin reaching in, aware that Álvarez is setting traps and willing to call his bluff and walk through, like the Wet/Sticky Bandits from Home Alone. Golovkin never able to get any leverage on a shot, too much quality defensive movement from Álvarez, even as knackered as he is, always just a step ahead.

10-9 Álvarez, very close but clear IMO.

106-103 Golovkin

 

Lederman now has it 107-102 Golovkin, having given Álvarez the eleventh (but not the more dominant tenth...still baffling to me...)

 

Round 12

Álvarez is standing in the pocket with Golovkin, both pitched forward, grinding foreheads, earmuffs on, hauling up hooks from hip to ear. They separate after landing about evenly on the inside, with a slight edge to Álvarez. Nice extended combo by Álvarez, leaning in to lull Golovkin into thinking it was another inside war but then pulling the stool out from under him and leaving him lurching off-balance in the path of Álvarez's shots. Golovkin pumps a few jabs into the face. Álvarez eats several backing into the ropes and Golovkin chops him across the cheek with a right hand. Álvarez skips away from the ropes and gets his guard up, then snaps a matador turn while landing a counter jab as Golovkin clumsily stomps toward him. 1-2 by Álvarez, very loose in the arms, landing just to score, light touches from outside. Golovkin as tired as I can ever remember seeing him, barely able to summon a punch and slow as molasses when he does. Golovkin missing some wild shots; Álvarez playing around with him. Shades of Emanuel Augustus there.

10-9 Álvarez, close

115-113 Golovkin

 

Lederman gives Álvarez the final round, and just as on my card it ends up not being quite enough (although on mine Álvarez was a round closer to cinching up the gap on GGG's lead)

 

I actually watched the full thing in High Definition, scrutinizing each round more closely than I ever do under normal live RBR conditions, with a pen & paper scrawling quick notes to myself in shorthand (which I later fleshed out into RBR posts, rather than my usual modus operandi with part of my attention diverted by typing out full reports as I watch)

 

...lest suckas think I'm playing:

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Here's what I find odd:

...in the lead-up to doing this, I made a concerted effort to not go back through any old threads on how people scored the fight, including the scorecards of well-known boxing journos and people on here that might even on the minutest scale in a subliminal or subconscious way bias or influence my own scoring. After scrawling my last note, however, I read some of the YouTube comments for the pair of videos that served as my spliced-together Frankenstein of the whole (again: BN for R1-6, and HBO for 7-12) and was pretty struck by what awaited me.

People on the Canelo side claiming that he swept the first three and last three seemed very prevalent. I did give him the championship rounds but after three I actually had GGG up. I could see having it 29-28 in the other direction, but to say Canelo swept the first three clearly is just mystifying. Also, to me, the sixth was a very strong Canelo round (which, to be fair, a small minority of YouTube comment section folk did agree with - but ironically those were people that ended up scoring the whole thing for Golovkin). Why harp on rounds 2 and 3 (which IMO were Golovkin rounds) being "clear" instances of him managing to outbox GGG when, if anything, the sixth was a better round for him than both of those combined?

I still have no idea how the RBR point allocation was distributed on the scorecards of any individuals here, friend or foe - so now I'm curious to see how my first impression aligns with the rest of the community's.

All told, had I caught this on the night of, I can't say the result would have left me horrified. GGG scraped by with a tie game just one round's shift away on my card - and I could definitely see a close round or two on my card that could shift Canelo's way instead. That abomination turned in by Adelaide Byrd, though - in no universe did Canelo beat GGG by a ludicrous 8-4. There aren't eight in there for him, even sliding the few that are up for grabs.