LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Latest on the Genady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez middleweight title fight (all times local):
9:04 p.m.
Gennady Golovkin retained his middleweight titles Saturday night, fighting to a draw with Canelo Alvarez in a brutal battle that ended with both fighters with their hands aloft in victory.
The middleweight showdown lived up to its hype as the two fighters traded huge punches and went after each other for 12 rounds. Neither fighter was down and neither appeared seriously hurt, but both landed some huge punches to the head that had the crowd screaming in excitement.
Golovkin was the aggressor throughout but couldn’t put Alvarez down, and Alvarez more than stood his own in exchanges with Triple G. The two were still brawling as the final seconds ticked down and the fight went to the scorecards.
One judge had Alvarez winning 118-110, a second had it 115-113 in Golovkin’s favor, while the third had it 114-114. The Associated Press scored it 114-114.
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8:52 p.m.
Canelo Alvarez has made the fight closer with a late burst against middleweight boxing champion Genady Golovkin. The AP unofficial score is even.
Round 10) Alvarez seems to stun Golovkin in the opening seconds throwing him off balance with a left-right combo to the head. The two trade punches in the center of the ring as the crowd roars its approval. Golovkin keeps coming and lands some shots of his own. Alvarez 10-9 (Golovkin 96-94)
Round 11) Alvarez throws a right that pushes Golovkin’s head back. He’s backpedaling still but landing counter punches as it does. The crowd chants “Canelo, Canelo.” Alvarez 10-9 (Golovkin 105-104)
Round 12) They trade from the opening bell in the final round, both tired but both willing to engage. Alvarez lands a six-punch combination and follows it with a looping right. They brawl until the end of the round. Alvarez 10-9 (114-114)
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8:46 p.m.
Genady Golovkin dominated the middle rounds of his middleweight title defense against Mexican star Canelo Alvarez.
Round 7) Alvarez is backpedaling more as Golovkin controls the pace of the fight. Golovkin comes forward relentlessly seeming unafraid of Alvarez’ power. Golovkin 10-9 (Golovkin 67-66)
Round 8) Golovkin is taking chances, moving forward and landing some big right hands to the head. Alvarez tries to set him up for a counter uppercut and finally lands. Golovkin 10-9 (Golovkin 77-75)
Round 9) Golovkin lands a big right early that shakes Alvarez, who immediately lashes out with a good right of his own. Alvarez is throwing bigger punches now, trying to stem the onslaught by Golovkin and lands a huge right with a minute left. Golovkin 10-9 (Golovkin 87-84)
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8:33 p.m.
Round 4) Genady Golovkin is advancing behind his jab, and in the middle of the round Canelo Alvarez goes to the ropes and invites Golovkin in so he can counter punch him. The tactic doesn’t play out and Golovkin continues to land the jab. Golovkin 10-9 (38-38)
Round 5) Alvarez is using his speed to counter Golovkin, but Golovkin keeps coming behind his jab. Midway through the round Alvarez went to the ropes in a neutral corner and Golovkin hit him with a right hand that was the biggest punch of the fight. Alvarez shook his head, then fought out of the corner. Golovkin 10-9 (Golovkin 48-37)
Round 6) Alvarez comes out with some big left hooks and uppercuts and is aggressive early. He and Golovkin trade punches as the crowd roars. Golovkin keeps landing his jab. Alvarez 10-9 (57-57)
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8:20 p.m.
Round 1) Both fighters are tentative early but Genady Golovkin uses his jab well to land to the head. Canelo Alvarez seems to be testing Golovkin’s power before committing himself. Golovkin 10-9
Round 2) Alvarez is much more active and is using his jab well. Golovkin isn’t coming forward as much as he was in the first round and toward the end of the round they trade punches in the corner. Alvarez 10-9 (19-19)
Round 3) Alvarez clearly has the faster hands and is using them to score and then get out of the way. Late in the round he takes the offensive, lands a good left uppercut and a flurry to the head. Alvarez 10-9 (Alvarez 29-28)
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7:50 p.m.
A fight boxing fans have been waiting a long time for is close to the opening bell. Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin have had their hands wrapped and gloves laced, and soon will make their walks to the ring.
But first come the national anthems - all three of them.
First up is the national anthem of Kazakhstan, the country Golovkin grew up in. Following that is the national anthem of Mexico for Alvarez and then the national anthem of the United States.
The T-Mobile arena, which holds 20,000 for boxing, appears to be full for the highly anticipated middleweight showdown between Alvarez and Golovkin.
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7:10 p.m.
Before his fighter faced Gennady Golovkin in the main event, promoter Oscar De La Hoya got to watch his cousin score a big win on the undercard.
Diego De La Hoya remained unbeaten in 20 fights by winning a lopsided decision over Randy Caballero in a 10-round super bantamweight fight.
De La Hoya dominated from the opening bell to hand Caballero his first loss in 25 fights, using a strong hook to the body and head shots to pile up points. The fight was one of three on the undercard televised on the HBO pay-per-view.
Oscar De La Hoya, of course, was quite a fighter himself before retiring and getting into the promotion business. His biggest fighter is Canelo Alvarez.
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6 p.m.
It’s not easy to pick a winner in the middleweight showdown between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez. Both fighters bring different skill sets to the ring, and they have only one loss between them.
It is easy to figure out who the crowd favorite is at the T-Mobile arena on the Las Vegas Strip.
The fighters arrived a short time ago, and were shown on big video screens above the ring. While Alvarez was cheered, Golovkin drew mostly boos.
Outside the arena there is a festive scene as people walk around waving Mexican flags and calling out the name of arguably the biggest sports star in Mexico.
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Gennady Golovkin has so many middleweight title belts that it’s hard to keep track of them.
This being boxing, though, there is always one more to chase.
Golovkin, who meets Canelo Alvarez in a 160-pound showdown Saturday night, will be defending titles he has won from most of the major boxing organizations. And boxing fans will consider the winner the true middleweight champion of the world.
Billy Joe Saunders, though, owns another piece of the title and defended it Saturday with a unanimous decision win over Willie Monroe Jr. in England. The promoter for Saunders said earlier there’s a good chance his fighter could meet Triple G in his next fight, should Golovkin beat Alvarez.
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