Canelo Alvarez Fighting Gennady Golovkin With 'Anger' In Rematch: De La Hoya

Canelo Alvarez will be fighting Gennady Golovkin with a lot of anger in their highly-anticipated middleweight title rematch in Las Vegas on Sept. 15, according to the former's promoter and Golden Boy CEO Oscar de la Hoya.

The two fighters finally collided in September last year and delivered one of the best boxing fights in recent memory in what was a back-and-forth brawl that went all 12 rounds. But despite many going with a Golovkin decision that would see him retain his titles, the judges on the night scored it a split-decision draw, with judge Adelaide Byrd even controversially giving Canelo a 118-110 scorecard that drew plenty of ridicule.

After months of negotiations, the rematch was booked for May 5 this year on the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo, as both fighters promised a knockout in the sequel so that there's no debate this time. But another roadblock occurred when news emerged that Canelo had failed two drug tests in February for clenbuterol.

The Mexican's camp were adamant that Canelo, who had never failed a drug test before, had traces of the banned substance in his system due to a case of contaminated meat consumed in Mexico — a common occurrence in the past.

But Golovkin and his camp, who were not pleased with the outcome of the first fight, were having none of it as they pressured the Nevada State Athletic Commission to punish the 27-year-old. "GGG" would also accuse Canelo of being a long-time user of performance enhancing drugs before the latter was eventually suspended for six months and the rematch called off.

With the rematch now slated to take place in September, De La Hoya believes things are personal between the two fighters this time, especially for Canelo who was already not pleased with Golovkin's accusations before the rematch was called off.

"I expect a tough fight for both," De La Hoya told ESPN Deportes, as per Boxing Scene. "The fact that Canelo has that anger towards Golovkin, this fight is very personal for both, but the fact that GGG has been talking too much about Canelo, for me Canelo is going to be very motivated, he's going to train harder than ever. For me this fight will be tough, but obviously we are with Canelo 100 percent."

"In September, both fighters have to go for a knockout, it's that easy, because nobody wants to see a decision. Obviously the controversy that was in the first fight with the draw, it left a bad taste for people. And now both of them have to knock each other out, because it's the only way that the public is going to be satisfied. And if Canelo wins by knockout, he's going to be the king of boxing.. he's going to be the most beloved figure in the world, the hero, it's quite important and I have a good feeling that Canelo will knock him out," he added.

Negotiations for the September rematch went all the way to the wire. Being the bigger draw, Canelo was initially pegged to have a 65-35 purse split, but following his failed drug tests, Golovkin demanded a more even split.

The unbeaten Kazakh would even reject a final 57½-42½ offer after Golden Boy set a deadline earlier this month before De La Hoya intervened by putting his own money into the deal that will now see the fight at 55-45 in Canelo's favor.

"It was quite difficult (to close the fight), the negotiations were really tough, it took time to please the two groups, the two fighters, but it was achieved and we are delighted that the fight will take place," De La Hoya added.