Gennadiy Golovkin definitely didn’t get the result he wanted on Saturday, losing a decision to Canelo Alvarez that nobody is arguing with other than thinking the judges scored the fight too close, but the 40-year-old GGG says he will fight on.
Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KO) said in the ring post-fight that he would look to continue in the ring, as he still holds the WBA and IBF middleweight titles, and stressed that he has no intention to retire during his post-fight press conference.
GGG also talked about his approach in the fight, his success in the latter rounds, and whether Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KO) was better than before.
On starting slow in the fight
“It probably was a tactical mistake on my part to start slow, but on the other hand we wanted to see how the fight would develop. I believe we both started rather slowly, did some reconnaissance, and that reconnaissance probably went too long for me.”
On the scoring of the fight
“It’s not up to me to talk about scoring. I just did my job, and if judges came up with those scores, that’s their decision.”
On what he’d planned to do pre-fight
“The strategy was to win this fight, and we shouldn’t attribute my loss to the strategy. I felt great and those minor shots with which Canelo was successful did not surprise me. Maybe I was not that successful with my shots, and ultimately the judges scored in his favor.”
On how he and Canelo “squashed the beef” so quickly post-fight
“I’ve always said I did not feel any animosity in our rivalry; he was the one who said it was personal. My response to that was, ‘Why did he wait so many years for this fight to happen?’ But after the fight, when we looked each other in the eye, we had no (issues) toward each other anymore. We congratulated each other, we said, ‘Excellent fight,’ and we moved on. We realize that at this level, this sport is so dangerous. We were very content with how this fight played out and how our rivalry ended.”
On how he felt about the decision
“I’m 40 years old and I’m probably wiser than when I was 36. We all understand the rules of the game. We are looking at that from the reasonable standpoint. The judges ruled in Canelo’s (favor) and he was announced as the winner of this fight.”
On whether he saw anything in the Bivol fight that gave him ideas
“There was a plan to bring Canelo closer, to let him open up, so I could try to do what I wanted to do. Maybe it was too late in the game that it began to actually (work), but at the same time, I didn’t (take) any strong punches. You can look at my face, it’s clean, I look fresh. But since I started late in the fight, I didn’t have enough time to fulfill my game plan.”
On whether he might re-think fighting on when he gets home
“I still have this fire burning within me, I have this passion for boxing, and don’t forget that I have (two world title) belts at 160. I still feel great. I didn’t (take) any serious shots. I’m not tired, I’m fresh. I feel the strength and power within me. If the opportunity comes, I’ll be looking to continue in the ring.”
On whether he plans to move back down to 160
“It will all depend on offers I might receive. I have (two world title) belts at 160, like I said, and certain obligations with that.”
On what he takes from this night
“I don’t think about the loss. It’s not something that’s on my mind right now. It was a great fight, and it was a very clean fight. We didn’t allow any mistakes. The fight was very competitive, and especially in the second half I felt that I did better than my opponent.”
On whether Canelo was stronger at 168 than 160
“I don’t want to belittle his victory, but I did not feel he was any faster or stronger. The shots that reached were not strong enough, and in the second half, he even lost some speed and power. I think that even in the beginning, we didn’t fight much, either of us. The number of shots thrown were less than in the second half. But no surprises for me at all.”
