WITH the mouth-watering matchup between pound-for-pound icons Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez having been confirmed this past weekend, boxing fans and insiders alike have been discussing who they think will come out on top in boxing’s biggest bout.

Last year, before the September superfight had been scheduled, former two-weight world champion and respected pundit Paulie Malignaggi had his say on the middleweight megafight.

“I favour Golovkin in the fight,” Malignaggi said. “Canelo has trouble with movers, which Golovkin is not, but Canelo also likes to take his time, and doesn’t like to be forced into situations where he has to fight more than he wants to. One thing about Golovkin is that he is constantly in your face, cutting the ring off. When you have that monster puncher consistently in your face, even if he’s not throwing punches, the panic does set in. That’d force Canelo to have to focus for three minutes of every round. That’s the type of mental pressure Golovkin puts on you. It can be very, very stressful. I’m curious to see how Canelo would react to that, because he doesn’t like to be rushed.”