On Friday, Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin were in the same room for the first time since 2018, ahead of their trilogy bout on Sept. 17 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for Canelo’s undisputed super-middleweight titles.
The bitter rivals didn’t disappoint at the press conference and renewed their rivalry before they even said a word. Before the presser began, Canelo and GGG walked towards one another and met in the middle of the stage. You could cut the tension and animosity with a knife. Neither Alvarez nor Golovkin wanted to give an inch and be the first to blink. Finally, after being face-to-face for over a minute, both moved slightly for camera shots. Still, Canelo and GGG stared intently at each other until they went in separate directions.
When both guys walked to their respective seats to begin the press conference, Alvarez didn’t bite his tongue towards his bitter feeling that he was different when they were around each other.
“He pretends to be a nice guy, but he’s not. He’s an a—hole,” Alvarez said.
Golovkin smiled at Alvarez when the comment was made, but he didn’t take the bait and engage in a war of words. Instead, he was complimentary of Alvarez and didn’t get why there was such disdain for him.
“I respect him a lot,” Golovkin said through an interpreter. “As for him saying it’s personal, I really don’t understand what he’s talking about because after the second fight, we shake hands. I believe we put everything behind us back then. If he says he has still has something against me, it’s his problem, not mine.”
Alvarez and Golovkin had one final staredown, this time with the former having all four super-middleweight belts with him. The second staredown wasn’t as long, but you could still feel the intensity until promoter Eddie Hearn separated them.
The second and final stop of the media tour will be on Monday in New York City.
–dazn.com
