Boxing is indeed the “red district” of sports.

A highly-touted match that turned out to be more controversial than the first time around; Canelo Álvarez won the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council middleweight belts from Gennady Golovkin following a controversial majority decision win over the weekend at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While one judge scored the fight 114-114, the other two favored Canelo with identical 115-113 decisions.

Despite both Álvarez and Golovkin exchanging jabs in the opening round, they also came off tentative from the start. Golovkin stalked behind the jab, while the Mexican allowed his hands to go off the counters in the second round – when things started to pick up.

Álvarez continued to counter and was the busier in round three, eventually unleashing an uppercut that snapped Golovkin’s head.

Golovkin connected with a solid right in the fourth round, but his momentum was halted by an overhand right in the following round.

At this juncture, Álvarez started to focus downstairs as Golovkin was on his back foot. The Kazakh continued using a stiff jab as his opponent stalked past the halfway point in the seventh.

The two also clashed heads, which added to the drama, and resulted in Golovkin beginning to close the gap and Álvarez bleeding.

By the 10th round, Golovkin backed Canelo shortly after, briefly stopping his momentum, but the Mexican stood his ground.

The closing rounds were full of drama. With the fight close, Golovkin took it to Álvarez and landed wild punches, but Álvarez quickly responded with combinations.

The eventual champion went after his opponent in the 12th and final round but slipped. When referee Benji Estevez ruled it a slip, everyone was on their feet.

The two continued trading blows until the final bell. Once it was over, fans went wild and demanded a third fight./WDJ