Canelo Álvarez
Professional career > Middleweight > Álvarez vs. Golovkin II

Artikel utama: Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin II
Immediately after the controversial ending, talks began for a rematch between Álvarez and Golovkin. Álvarez stated he would next fight in May 2018, whereas Golovkin was open to fighting in December 2017. ESPN reported that Álvarez, who only had the rematch clause in his contract, must activate it within three weeks of their fight. On 19 September, Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez told ESPN that everyone on their side was interested in the rematch and they would hold discussions with Tom Loeffler in the coming days. Ringtv reported that the negotiations would begin on 22 September. On 24 September, Gomez said the rematch would likely take place in the first week of May 2018 or as early as March if a deal could be worked. Despite ongoing negotiations for the rematch, at the 55th annual convention in Baku, Azerbaijan on 2 October, the WBC officially ordered a rematch. Gomez reacted by telling ESPN, "Regardless of if they did or didn't order the rematch, we are going to try to make it happen. We'll do whatever it takes to make it happen." On 7 November, Gomez indicated the negotiations were going well and Álvarez would make a decision in regards to the rematch in the following weeks. It was believed that Golden Boy would wait until after David Lemieux and Billy Joe Saunders fought for the latter's WBO title on 16 December 2017, before making a decision. On 15 November, Matchroom's Eddie Hearn, promoter of Daniel Jacobs, stated that he approached Tom Loeffler regarding a possible rematch between Golovkin and Jacobs if the Álvarez–Golovkin rematch failed to take place. On 20 December, Gomez announced that the negotiations were close to being finalized after Álvarez gave Golden Boy the go-ahead to write up the contracts. On 29 January 2018, HBO finally announced the rematch would take place in May on Cinco de Mayo weekend. On 22 February, the T-Mobile Arena was again selected as the fight's venue. According to WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, Álvarez would fight Golovkin for their title this time around.
In March 2018, Álvarez tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol ahead of the fight. Adding to the controversy, Golovkin's trainer Abel Sanchez claimed that Álvarez had his hands wrapped in an illegal manner for the first fight. On 23 March, the NSAC temporarily suspended Álvarez due to his two positive tests for the banned substance clenbuterol. Álvarez was required to appear at a commission hearing, either in person or via telephone, on the issue on 10 April. The commission would decide at the hearing whether the fight would be permitted to go ahead as scheduled. On 28 March, MGM Resorts International, who own the T-Mobile Arena, started to offer full refunds to anyone who had already purchased tickets for the bout. They wrote, "In the event a fan requested a refund, they could get one at the original point of sale and in full." The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the news. The hearing was rescheduled for 18 April, as Bob Bennett filed a complaint against Álvarez. On 3 April, Álvarez officially withdrew from the rematch. Golden Boy mentioned during a press conference it was hinted that Álvarez would likely not be cleared at the hearing and they would not have enough time to promote the fight.
On 13 April, an unofficial source stated that Álvarez had checked into a private hospital in Guadalajara for an arthroscopy knee surgery. A spokesperson for Golden Boy later said it was a cosmetic surgery. After surgery, Álvarez posted a picture on social media with a caption reading, "I share that today I had to undergo an arthroscopic surgery to repair the internal femoral cartilage and eliminate a pathological fold of my right knee." Eric Gomez of Golden Boy later confirmed that Álvarez had "a cyst taken out of his knee" and there were no serious issues with his knee.
At the hearing, Álvarez was given a six-month suspension, backdated to his first drug test fail on 17 February, meaning the ban would end on 17 August 2018. The Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) stated that Álvarez was not enrolled in their testing program. His promoter De La Hoya then announced that Álvarez would return to the ring on Mexican Independence Day weekend.
According to Golovkin on 27 April, before he defeated Vanes Martirosyan, a fight with Álvarez in the fall was still a priority. During a conference call, he stated it was the "biggest fight in the world" and beneficial for all parties involved. Although Golovkin stated the rematch had a ten percent chance of happening, Eric Gomez and Tom Loeffler agreed to meet and start negotiating after 5 May. One of the main issues preventing the rematch to take place was the purse split. Álvarez wanted 65–35 in his favor, the same terms Golovkin agreed to initially, however Golovkin wanted a straight 50–50 split.
On 6 June, Golovkin was stripped of his IBF title due to not adhering to the IBF's rules. The IBF granted Golovkin an exception to fight Martirosyan, although they would not sanction the fight and told Golovkin's team to start negotiating and fight mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko by 3 August 2018. The IBF released a statement in detail explaining its decision to strip Golovkin of the belt. On 7 June, Golovkin's team stated they would accept a 55–45 split in favor of Álvarez. Five days later on 12 June, Golden Boy gave Golovkin a 24-hour deadline to accept a 57½–42½ split in Álvarez's favor or they would explore other fights. At this time, Golden Boy were already in light negotiations with Eddie Hearn for a fight against Daniel Jacobs instead. At the same time, Loeffler was working closely with Frank Warren to match Saunders with Golovkin at the end of August. Golovkin declined the offer and De La Hoya stated there would be no rematch. Despite this, some sources indicated both sides were still negotiating after a "Hail Mary" idea came to light. Hours later, De La Hoya confirmed via his Twitter account that terms had been agreed and the fight would indeed take place on 15 September at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Golovkin revealed to ESPN he agreed to 45%. Álvarez started training for the bout on 14 June and stated his intention to apply for his boxing license on 18 August. It was confirmed that both boxers would not physically come face to face with each other until the fight week. A split-screen press conference took place on 3 July. On 3 September, due to a majority vote of the panel, it was announced that the vacant Ring middleweight title would be contested for the bout. Doug Fischer wrote, "We posed the question to the ratings panel, which, in a landslide, voted in favor the magazine's 160-pound championship being up for grabs when the two stars clash at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas."
In front of a sell out crowd of 21,965, the fight was again not without controversy as Álvarez defeated Golovkin via majority decision after twelve rounds. Álvarez was favored by judges Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld, both scoring the bout 115–113, the third judge Glenn Feldman scored it 114–114. The result was disputed by fans, pundits and media. Of the 18 media outlets scoring the bout, ten ruled in favor of Golovkin, seven scored a draw while one scored the bout for Álvarez. The scorecards showed how close the bout was, with the judges splitting eight rounds. After nine rounds, all three judges had their scorecards reading 87–84 for Álvarez.
The fight was much different from the first bout in terms of action. Álvarez who was described by Golovkin's team as a "runner", altered his style and became more aggressive. Both boxers found use of their respective jabs from the opening round with Golovkin using his jab more as the fight went on. Big punches were landed by both fighters during the bout, with both Álvarez and Golovkin showing excellent chins. Despite the tense build up, both boxers showed each other respect after the fight. Álvarez made good use of his body attack, landing 46 compared to Golovkin's six landed. CompuBox stats showed that Golovkin landed 234 of 879 punches thrown (27%) and Álvarez landed 202 of his 622 punches (33%). Golovkin had the edge in jabs, landing 118 out of 547 (21.6%) compared to 59 out of 256 (23%) for Álvarez. However, Álvarez had the edge in power punches, landing 143 out of 366 (39.1%) compared to 116 out of 332 (34.9%) for Golovkin. In eight of the rounds Golovkin outlanded Álvarez in total punches whereas Álvarez outlanded him in power punches in 9 of the rounds.
Álvarez stated that the fight was a "clear victory" and that "in the end, it was a victory for Mexico. And again, it was an opportunity. And I want to shout out to my opponent, the best in the sport of boxing. I am a great fighter, and I showed it tonight. If the people want another round, I'll do it again. But for right now, I will enjoy time with my family." Golovkin did not take part in the post-fight and made his way backstage where he received stitches for a cut over his right eye. He later responded to the defeat, explaining that "I'm not going to say who won tonight, because the victory belongs to Canelo, according to the judges. I thought it was a very good fight for the fans and very exciting. I thought I fought better than he did." Both fighters were open to a trilogy.
The fight generated a live gate of $23,473,500 from 16,732 tickets sold. This was lower than the first bout, but still the fourth largest-grossing gates in Nevada boxing history. The fight sold 1.1 million PPV buys, lower than the first bout; however, due to being priced at $84.95, it generated more revenue at around $94 million.