By Norm Frauenehim-
About 1,500 miles and an international border separated two fighters who only have a weight class and mutual contempt in common.
Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin were in opposite virtual corners – Canelo in Guadalajara and GGG in Big Bear, Calif. — at an unusual news conference last week that could only happen in today’s social-media world. It was social in name only, of course. But that gave it an edge. It was effective, because it was new.
But it’s effectiveness was also rooted in drama as genuine as it is timeless. GGG and Canelo don’t like each other.
They staged their satellite newser Tuesday on the Golden Boy Promotions Facebook page for a big audience that watched because it’s clear they want to unfriend each other in their Sept. 15 rematch (HBO PPPV/8 pm. ET) at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena with more than a key stroke.
The middleweights never smiled. They had a tough time even looking into the cameras throughout the hour-long session. It was awkward enough to almost be painful. Almost.
Real pain, of course, is the inherent promise in the controversial build-up for a rematch postponed by Canelo’s two positive PED tests in February and then testy negotiations that only heightened dislike the rival camps have for each other.
A clipped tone spoke volumes Tuesday. At one point, moderator Mauricio Pedroza asked Canelo for what he had to say to GGG.
“Nothing, we’ll see September 15,’’ Canelo said.
Then, there were moments when Canelo and his corner expressed their anger at GGG trainer Abel Sanchez, whose consistent wit and criticism of Canelo’s tactics in last September’s draw represent some rhetorical jabs in the early rounds of the psychological gamesmanship. Sanchez questions Canelo’s courage.
“I think that on the 15th when Oscar and Canelo are having breakfast, Oscar needs to remind him, he needs to bring his courage to the venue that night because he’s going to need it,’’ Sanchez said Tuesday. “If he intends to knock out Golovkin, he’s going to have to fight him. And if he fights him, he’s going to get knocked out. I said that before. He would have gotten knocked out the first time, but he decided to make it a track meet that night.
“But if he comes to fight and if he comes to knock out Golovkin as he said he’s going to; if he doesn’t defraud the fans again, then he’s going to get knocked out. I’ve said it and I’ll say it again.’’
During the course of the news conference, GGG suggested the fight itself is a path for both sides to regain respect for each other.
“I do have respect to all the fighters, all the athletes, all the champions who fight at this level,” he said. “And I think at the very end, we will find a way to shake each other’s hand, regardless of the outcome, regardless what we think before the fight. As two men, we should be able to stand against each other and shake each other’s hand at the end.’’
But it sounds as if Canelo has other ideas, especially when it comes to Sanchez.
When it was time for questions from the media, there was a reference to what GGG had said about eventually shaking hands.
Question: “This is for Canelo. As a Mexican, do you believe Abel Sanchez deserves a handshake? Can you actually shake Abel Sanchez’s hands?’
Canelo: “He deserves that and much more.”
The chance at much more is selling this one.
