Gennady Golovkin vs Saul Alvarez: ‘Drugs scandal’ drives dislike between pair of boxing superstars before showdown

Triple G faces Canelo on Saturday in Vegas and so embittered has the rivalry become, their bosses decided against making them pose for head-to-head photos before Friday’s weigh-in

Gennady Golovkin, boxing’s friendliest assassin, was perched on a stool in a darkened corridor deep in the bowels of the MGM Grand. He had fielded questions in a variety of languages about judges’ scorecards, performance-enhancing drugs and even his own genitalia. A couple of reporters had also been given short shrift for some ill-timed posers.

For a man days away from the biggest fight of his life and deep into the long, gruelling weight-making process, you sensed that he’d had just about enough of the talking.

But then his mood changed. “I like the old school,” he said, smiling again. “I want to bring back boxing’s position. I remember I watched great fights like Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. That was a huge fight, a history fight and I think this fight is very similar. It’s very close, it’s a history fight.”

Golovkin, the WBA and WBC middleweight champion, meets Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night in the latest chapter of their story, 12 months on from a controversial draw at the same venue. Depending on the result, a third fight is not out of the question.

Throughout their formative years, as both Canelo and Golovkin began to emerge as the two dominant middleweight forces of the era, it was always predicted that they would eventually combine to produce something special.

Their initial encounter was a good fight. It may not make many top-10 lists of greatest ever encounters but it was a clear display of two genuinely elite men operating at the peak of their power.

But, in the year that has followed, the Canelo-Golovkin story has taken on a life of its own ahead of tonight’s highly anticipated rematch back at the T-Mobile Arena. Now, according to Triple G, it could take its place alongside some of the sport’s most memorable sagas.

“Maybe my son and people like him, young people, will watch this fight 20 years later and say ‘oh you remember when Triple G fought Canelo?” Golovkin said. “Just like they do with people like [Arturo] Gatti and [Micky] Ward. This is huge. And this is about the boxing, not the business. Everyone talks about the boxing, they don’t talk about everything else. They don’t ask how much money the fight made, they ask just one question: who won – that’s it.”

There was plenty of respect between the pair a year ago but when Canelo tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing substance clenbuterol in March, everything changed. Their scheduled May meeting was canned and Golovkin was forced to wait.

Golovkin holds a real dislike for his opponent Alvarez (Getty)

In fact, so embittered has the rivalry become, their promotional bosses decided against making them pose for any head-to-head photographs at any point before Friday’s weigh-in.

It had been suggested that such a move would be bad for business, with pay-per-view sales on the line, but the fear of early, unauthorised violence was enough to pass up the traditional money shot.

The ‘drugs scandal’, as Golovkin puts it, has been the driving force between the dislike. Canelo, who insists he is guilty only of consuming contaminated Mexican meat, feels disrespected by the suggestion that he has cheated.

In one of the stranger twists of fight week, it was even claimed that the Mexican idol consumed the dirty steak in question during a meal with former US president Bill Clinton after they watched baseball together in Guadalajara.

The suggestion, made by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, verged on ridiculous but it added yet another dimension to the sort of story which has transcended boxing on this side of the Atlantic at least. Golovkin, of course, is not buying it.

“I’m bothered by this,” Canelo said when asked about the doping allegations. “I’m not bothered by what he thinks. I’m bothered by all the stupid things that they’ve been saying and I’ve been using it as motivation in my training for this fight.

“I don’t know what he wants, I don’t know what he’s thinking or what business he wants. For me, it has now become personal because of everything he said but it has served as a great motivation for me. But words aren’t needed for this. I’m going to go in there to knock him out. That’s what I’m here for.”

Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin pose in Vegas this week (AP)

Before that, Irishman Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan will make his play for a shot at whoever wins the main event when he takes on dangerous former world champion David Lemieux. Their contest has been made an official final eliminator for Golovkin’s WBA belt and it is not out of the question that the winner of each bout could square off before the end of the year.

‘Spike’, a former butcher and tree surgeon, nearly retired from boxing in December 2015 when he was beaten by Chris Eubank Jr but he has bounced back with six wins on the spin. Lemieux, a devastating puncher, this week declared that he wants to damage his opponent ‘for life’, in a disturbing fight-week outburst.

“Look, he’s a scumbag,” O’Sullivan said. “Things have happened in my life, things regarding my children, which were far more difficult than any of this could ever be. I built up a massive tolerance to things over the course of my life. I have had dark, dark days but everything happens for a reason.

“To tell you the truth, all of this doesn’t impress me. I’m here to do a job. The stars have aligned and the path is set. I beat David Lemieux and then the winner of Golovkin-Canelo. The money that I earn will be life-changing and it will set up my entire family forever. That’s what this is all about.”