Las Vegas ‘front-runner’ for 3rd Canelo Alvarez-GGG fight

The third fight between pound-for-pound boxing king Canelo Alvarez and middleweight legend Gennady Golovkin appears headed to Las Vegas.

Alvarez’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn, said Wednesday that Las Vegas is “definitely the front-runner” to host the trilogy fight. The first two bouts also were in Las Vegas.

The tentative date is Sept. 17, Hearn said, but nothing has been finalized.

Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 knockouts) first needs to beat WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs), whom he fights Saturday for his title at T-Mobile Arena. Hearn said he thinks Golovkin is traveling to Las Vegas this week but isn’t sure if he will attend the fight.

“He (Alvarez) doesn’t feel overly comfortable talking about the fight because he feels it’s disrespectful to Dmitry Bivol,” Hearn said. “I think you’ll hear from him if (Alvarez) wins on Saturday.”

Alvarez and Golovkin first fought Sept. 16, 2017, for the unified middleweight title at T-Mobile Arena, beginning the lucrative rivalry that will conclude this fall. The first bout was scored, controversially, as a split draw that many observers thought Golovkin won.

Alvarez won the rematch by majority decision Sept. 15, 2018, at T-Mobile.

Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) is now 40 and past his prime, while Alvarez, 31, has reached his zenith as the undisputed super middleweight champion. Golovkin has campaigned exclusively at 160 pounds during his 14-year career, but the transition to 168 pounds makes for an easier weight cut — meaning the knockout specialist could be even more powerful in the new division.

Hearn said he expects the third fight to conclude with a stoppage and won’t last more than eight or nine rounds.

“(Golovkin) will be very aggressive against Canelo because he ain’t going to try to fiddle around for 12 rounds,” said Hearn, with whom Alvarez signed a multifight deal that included the trilogy fight with Golovkin. “I promise you that fight won’t go the distance because (Alvarez) will want to hurt him.”

Alvarez has downplayed his looming battle with Golovkin as he prepares for Bivol, but revealed Wednesday there is a personal element to the trilogy.

“He says a lot of things. Nothing in particular. A lot of bad things he says about me,” Alvarez said. “Like Eddie Hearn says, simple rule, don’t (expletive) with me.”

Golovkin ended a 14-month layoff in April, claiming the WBA middleweight title from Ryota Murata with a ninth-round stoppage in Saitama City, Japan.

Alvarez fights Saturday for the fifth time in the past 17 months. He last beat Caleb Plant in November at the MGM Grand Garden to win the undisputed 168-pound championship.

“It’s the biggest fight in boxing, but the only thing that matters is Saturday night, because everybody knows if you overlook and start planning ahead, anything can happen,” Hearn said of Alvarez’s fight with Golovkin. “We know where we are. Triple G had to beat Murota. (Alvarez) has to beat Bivol. We can see after that.”

Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.