Just hours after it was announced that Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin will engage in the rematch the boxing world had been eager to watch, Oscar De La Hoya is already thinking about a potential third fight.
De La Hoya spoke with the Desert Sun to talk about the rematch and when he was asked about the possibility of a third fight happening, the former world champion said a third fight should happen. The rematch is schedule to headline an HBO pay-per-view on May 5 at a venue to be determined at a later date.
“It has to, there’s no doubt about it,” De La Hoya said. “The first one was a draw, whomever wins the next one, the loser is going to want to get revenge. So, this obviously calls for a trilogy, and that’s exactly what the fight fans deserve.”
The idea of a trilogy between the two middleweight boxers had been explored and suggested by De La Hoya even before the first fight took place. The first fight, which took place at the T-Mobile Arena on September 16, 2017, ended in a much-disputed split draw. The draw meant Golovkin retained his unified WBA "super," WBC, IBO and IBF middleweight titles while Canelo retained his lineal and The Ring middleweight titles.
The first fight between the two generated a reported 1.3 million buys on pay-per-view and the third highest live gate for a boxing event in the history of the state of Nevada.
