Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez beats Gennady Golovkin to inflict his first defeat in brutal rematch that sets up trilogy bout

Canelo secured a narrow split-decision victory 12 months on from their controversial draw but a third bout looks inevitable after Saturday night’s close call

Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez edged a thrilling rematch with Gennady Golovkin to become the new WBA and WBC middleweight champion in a Las Vegas classic which paves the way for a trilogy which would be fit to grace any era.

A year after their controversial draw inside the same Sin City venue, the two middleweight icons who look like they might have been made for each other produced a fight even better than the first.

This time, however, two of the three judges gave Canelo the nod, granting him status as the WBA and WBC champion while inflicting the first defeat of Golovkin's career in the process.

Twelve months back, the occasion was overshadowed by a woman named Adalaide Byrd, who turned in an 118-110 card in favour of Canelo, which instantly went down as one of the worst examples of scoring in the history of Las Vegas. Despite Byrd, the fight ended in a split-decision draw.

Canelo made his usual colourful entrance tot he arena (Getty)

This time, there was no repeat as Glenn Feldman had it 114-114 while Steve Weisfeld and Dave Moretti both returned cards of 115-113 in favour of the 28-year-old Mexican. Unusually, all three judges scored the first six rounds identically.

Incidentally, both Moretti and Weisfeld gave Canelo the 12th and final round, which was considered by many to be one of the sessions Golovkin dominated. Had one or either handed that final round to Triple G, it would have been a second consecutive draw.

Both fighters traded big blows throughout the contest (AP)

But that's how close the margins were in this fight and indeed in the story of Canelo and Golovkin in general.

“I showed my victory with facts,” an emotional Canelo said. “He was the one who was backing up. I feel satisfied because I gave a great fight. It was a clear victory.”

With that being said, there would have been no complaints about a second draw or indeed a narrow victory for Golovkin, who thought he had done enough to retain the titles.

Golovkin gave as good as he got as they took the fight to each other (AP)

But it was a different Canelo 12 months on from the first fight and seven since he failed a drugs test when the banned performance-enhancing clenbuterol was found in his system.

He insisted the positive test was the result of consuming contaminated meat in his Mexican homeland but his integrity and honour was called into question by those who rejected that excuse.

Canelo had also been riled by suggestions from Golovkin's team, especially his coach Abel Sanchez, that he had spent most of the first fight 'running'. This time, however, he insisted on boxing on the front foot for large portions of the fight.

The two embrace at the end of the rematch as they await the final decision (Getty)

Just like the first contest, neither men was floored but they did both ship heavy shots at various points in the fight. They both sustained cuts too during a brutal battle which swung from one way to another.

Golovkin, whose record is now 38-1-1, said: "I'm not going to say who won tonight, because the victory belongs to Canelo according to the judges.

“I thought it was a very good fight for the fans, and very exciting. I thought I fought better than he did.”

Canelo celebrates his victory which handed Golovkin his first professional defeat (AP)

A third fight would make perfect sense, back here in Las Vegas on Cinco de Mayo of next year, but it is not often that the boxing business operates on logic alone.

And now, after 12 months of lengthy discussions ahead of this rematch, far more conversation is on the cards.