Saul “Canelo” Alvarez hits Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin with a right hand during their undisputed super middleweight championship. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom)
LAS VEGAS — Boxing is already a painful sport, which can become much more painful when a fighter fights in pain.
Early Sunday morning, Canelo Alvarez went public about a pre-existing injury to his left wrist that will require surgery after he defeated his nemesis, Gennadiy Golovkin, in the third fight of his trilogy to retain the undisputed super middleweight world championship. on Saturday night at T-Mobile Stadium.
Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) holds the IBF/WBC/WBO/WBA/Ring super middleweight titles and has fought six times in the last 21 months. He said he injured his wrist in his November 2021 victory over Caleb Plant to become the first undisputed super middleweight world champion.
Apparently, Alvarez’s unanimous decision loss to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7 occurred with torn cartilage in his left wrist, an injury that will require surgery and up to 12 weeks of rehabilitation.
The injury hampered his endurance.
“I’ll take my time,” Alvarez said early Sunday morning of his return. “My body needs [rest]. You know, last year I fought four times in 11 months. So for that. But I need to take a little time. Maybe May, September, I don’t know. But take my time.
The wrist injury can explain a few things. Despite the closed cards, Álvarez dominated three quarters of the fight against Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs), until the ninth round. Every time it looked like Canelo would walk down “GGG,” he seemed to slow down.
He admitted his left wrist hurt “really bad” during the Golovkin fight and later realized it was too risky to go through another training camp with the possibility of creating more damage without surgery.
“I’ve had these issues since the Caleb Plant fight,” Alvarez said. “So, [I said], ‘Oh, it’s fine. It’s okay. leave it [go]. leave it [go].’ And then the training started, and it’s a problem, problem, problem. And I need surgery.
Since December 2020, the 32-year-old Alvarez has fought super middleweight champions Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Plant, clinched an easy tenure against Avni Yildirim there, faced Bivol and closed out 2022 with his second victory over Golovkin.
The 2019 and 2021 fighter of the year of The Ring did not specify when he plans to return, estimating that the recovery time could fall between May and September 2023.
He did emphasize that he would like a rematch with Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs). Bivol, however, has a hurdle to face in WBA mandatory challenger Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) on November 5, from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena.
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been with Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can follow him on twitter @JSantoliquito [twitter.com].
