• Gennadiy shares your curiosity about why it took Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennadiy Golovkin four years to resume their all-action battle.
• Despite the amount of money DAZN paid both fighters shortly after opening in the United States in 2018.
• Golovkin hesitated to go as far as to suggest the third fight was personal.

Gennadiy Golovkin shares your curiosity about why it took Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennadiy Golovkin four years to resume their all-action battle before their trilogy fight on Saturday.

Golovkin stated last week on “Morning Kombat” that “this is not a question for me. The day after the judges awarded Canelo the victory in the rematch, I insisted on a trilogy.

Following his rematch with Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) in 2018, the undisputed super middleweight champion just once more competed at middleweight to defend Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs), who still owns two world belts at 160 pounds. In the first contest in their rivalry to take place at 168 pounds, Alvarez, 32, will try to defend his four belts this weekend inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (DAZN PPV, 8 p. ET — subscribe now).

Despite the amount of money DAZN paid both fighters shortly after opening in the United States in 2018 in the hopes of securing a third bout, Alvarez, who is coming off a decision loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in May, hasn’t sounded as if he desired the trilogy. The animosity between them, which was stoked by two disputed rulings in which GGG felt wronged, as well as the steroid accusations made against Alvarez after he failed a drug test before their rematch, played a significant role in this.

Alvarez, though, modified his response when asked by CBS Sports on Wednesday if he was inspired to accept the challenge this time.

Alvarez responded, “Yes, I want [the trilogy].” And I would really like it if others wanted it. I’m quite happy to be here since I wanted to return strongly. I’m all set for Saturday.

Golovkin hesitated to go as far as to suggest the third fight was personal, even though it’s obvious that he still holds grudges towards Alvarez, who was fortunate to salvage a contentious draw in 2017 before edging GGG in their rematch via disputed majority decision. That is just where his client needs to be, according to trainer Johnathon Banks, who took over for Abel Sanchez following the second Alvarez fight.

Banks told that G performs best when emotionless. “Now, it might not be effective for every fighter, but for this boxer, keeping it professional and leaving his emotions at home is the ideal way to approach this battle. It’s okay if he chooses to process his feelings in the locker room. He doesn’t need them, though, in the ring. Whatever happens, there will be a fierce battle. We obviously want to win and end the third chapter of this dilemma as the conflict continues. However, feelings have no bearing on it.

In the end, the first two fights exceeded expectations as classic action bouts with a high degree of talent and intensity. They were PPV blockbusters. However, the primary distinction between the four-year gap between fights going into this weekend is that Alvarez has ascended to the throne as the undisputed pound-for-pound champion across many divisions while Golovkin, at 40, has started to show his age.

Prior to each of the first two fights, Golovkin, a 4-1 underdog, was the betting favorite. He acknowledged that becoming older has made recovery more challenging, but Banks, a follower of the late Emanuel Steward’s Kronk Gym, has worked hard to counteract this.

It all comes down to wiser training and simply being more effective at what you already do well, according to Banks. “The objective is to train hard no matter what while you are young. As you age, you need to train more intelligently. That 40-year-old man is nothing like the typical 40-year-old man. He’s merely making as many adjustments as he can right now to avoid overworking himself.

Nevertheless, despite going 4-0 since the second Alvarez fight, Golovkin has appeared more slower. More punishment has also been meted out to him than fans have ever seen, including a contentious decision victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko that was a contender for fight of the year in 2019.

As professionals, neither of these fighters has ever been stopped or taken the wrong way. Golovkin, who has fought in almost 400 fights in his amateur and professional careers, yet insists that he has yet to even be buzzed. However, the majority of people think that in order to stand a chance of surprising his younger rival, he will need to count heavily on his superpower.

I frequently live by the adage, “I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it,” remarked Banks. “I concur that there will be a fierce battle. My want and desire is for G to end the show dramatically, but Canelo can take a hit just as well. He is not a pushover when it comes to taking hits from much bigger men. From G, where 90% of people fall and never get up, he took one right hand after another. He accepted it as though it were a piece of meat, ate it, and then continued to arrive.

The third (and likely final) encounter between the two living legends will be the most entertaining, according to Alvarez, who has publicly stated that he is ready to deliver the knockout this weekend and put a stop to any remaining discussion of dispute.

Alvarez predicted that this would be the best of the three: “I think it’s going to be the nice one.” Because everyone is talking about his age, he will undoubtedly bring his finest performance. I’m going to do everything I can to recover even more powerfully.

“This fight is crucial to my legacy because it will live on in boxing history after this one. That is the reason why we fought three times, correct? One of the greatest rivalries in boxing history, in my opinion

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