Golovkin promises war against 'clown' Canelo

Gennady Golovkin and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez had to be separated at the weigh-in for their blockbuster rematch, with the world middleweight champion calling his Mexican opponent a “clown.”

Golovkin tipped the scales at 159.6 pounds and Alvarez came in at 159.4 at the weigh-in, where the Mexican put his forehead right up against Golovkin’s as they squared up to each other, prompting a brief shoving match on the T-Mobile Arena stage.

Their first fight last September ended in a controversial draw when each fighter got the nod from one judge, while the third declared it a tie, allowing Golovkin to retain his World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation belts.

Golovkin is a slight favourite heading into Saturday’s rematch.

“He is like a clown, he is a showman. He is not a true guy,” said the 36-year-old Golovkin, who goes by the nickname “Triple G.”

“Tomorrow is a real war. This is not a regular fight, this is a special war.”

The bad blood between the pair has grown since Alvarez was temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in April for testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol, forcing a postponement of their planned May 5 rematch.

Alvarez blamed the positive test on contaminated meat but Golovkin has questioned the 28-year-old’s character over it.

”I don’t believe all his stories about contaminated meat,” Golovkin said earlier in the week.

”I think it’s all nonsense. I don’t like to hear his nonsense stories about contaminated meat.”

The weigh-in scuffle adds further spice to an already fierce grudge match, with Alvarez admitting the incident has only fired him up more.

“Look I got excited from seeing all the fans and it motivated me to do that right now,” he said through a translator.

“I defeated him at the weigh-in, now it’s time for me to defeat him on Saturday.”

Golovkin is unbeaten with a 39-0-1 record, while Alvarez is 49-1-2, with his only loss coming against Floyd Mayweather in 2013.

No love lost between the pair

When they finally do meet again in Las Vegas it will be with some hard feelings on both sides that didn’t surface in the first fight.

”I’m angry but I’m going to use it in my favor in this fight,” Alvarez said. ”I’m bothered by all the stupid things they’ve been saying.”

A fight that had to happen after the disputed draw in the first bout almost didn’t come to be after Alvarez tested positive for clenbuterol just before beginning training for what was supposed to be a May rematch. Alvarez was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission for six months, and then Golovkin’s camp demanded a better split of the purse than he got for the first bout.

A last minute agreement resolved the purse split, with Triple G getting closer to the 50-50 he was demanding. And both fighters will make millions for a sold-out fight that will be televised on HBO pay-per-view.

Now the rematch has to live up to the hype. That means both fighters will need to take more chances than in the first bout, which was close and entertaining but had no dramatic knockdowns or memorable big punches.

”I just want him (Alvarez) to do what he says he will do and try for a knockout,” said Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez. ”If he does that we’ll be treated to a great fight.”

Sanchez has carried much of the burden for the fight’s promotion, as both fighters are more comfortable speaking in their native languages than in English. He’s tried to bait Alvarez by claiming the Mexican fighter ran in the first fight and refused to engage Triple G, when in reality all Alvarez did was rely on his counter punching strength against the big puncher from Kazakhstan, who lives in Los Angeles.

”He’s promised the fans he’s going to knock him out, but in order to do that you have to be in range,” Sanchez said. ”In order to win a fight you have to want to win a fight. People aren’t going to pay 90 bucks to see somebody run.”

Golovkin, who has held pieces of the middleweight title for eight years, is 38-0-1 with 34 knockouts, and for much of his career knocked out anyone put in the ring with him. But he went 12 tough rounds against Daniel Jacobs before going the distance with Alvarez, and there are some in boxing who believe his skills are eroding at the age of 36.

Alvarez, an excellent counter puncher and boxer, also has the advantage of having gone 12 rounds with Triple G and understanding how to avoid getting hit with his biggest punches. Alvarez is 49-1-2 with 34 knockouts, and his only loss was five years ago to Mayweather.

”I’m going to go in there to knock him out,” Alvarez said. ”Every night before bed I visualize what I’m going to do, which is to get a knockout.”

In the first fight, which The Associated Press scored as a 114-114 draw, Alvarez came on strong against Golovkin in the late rounds to pull out a draw that was controversial largely because one judge had Alvarez winning 118-110.

But both fighters say they are happy with the judges for the rematch, and doubt they will come into play anyway.

With Yahoo Sports US