Golovkin opens as favourite over Alvarez

The biggest fight in boxing, Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin, may not yet have a venue but punters are already laying down money on the middleweight clash – and unified champion ‘GGG’ is the current favourite.

Canelo announced Golovkin as his next opponent immediately after routing Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr in Las Vegas at the weekend, confirming that he will collide with the unbeaten Kazakh on September 17.

Golovkin, the WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight champion, has opened as the betting favourite around the 4/7 mark but can be found at 4/6 with some outlets. Mexican superstar Canelo can be backed at roughly 11/8.

Those odds are just for the result of the fight. Golovkin, who holds the highest knockout percentage in middleweight championship history, is expected to stop Alvarez inside schedule by bookmakers, with odds of around 11/8 offered for that outcome, compared to 3/1 for him to win on points.

Conversely, if Canelo is to win bookmakers think he will do so on the cards – offered at 7/4 – while a Canelo knockout is a long 8/1. Golovkin has never even been knocked down as a pro, nor reportedly as an amateur.

Though it is not, on paper, the most competitive fight scheduled for this year – odds on Kell Brook vs Errol Spence and Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev II are closer – it is a clash the boxing world has long been yearning for.

Canelo is boxing’s biggest draw while Golovkin is one of the most feared men in the sport who has amassed a cult following but also morphed into a marketing machine. They are each other’s biggest challenge and their fight will draw worldwide attention.