LOS ANGELES – Gennadiy Golovkin believes it was beneficial for Canelo Alvarez to suffer just his second career loss when the Mexican star dropped a unanimous decision against Dmitry Bivol in May. 

Golovkin was supposed to be in Las Vegas for fight week and sit ringside for the bout, but ultimately he decided not to trek to Sin City. 

In fact, he didn’t even watch the fight, he admitted ahead of his third fight against Alvarez on Sept. 17 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on DAZN pay-per-view. 

“I’ve watched some highlights of some fights but I’m not following [Alvarez] and thinking about him. It’s not on my radar,” Golovkin told BoxingScene.com.

“I know a lot of people do not believe me but I did not watch the fight live or after. I did watch the highlights. There were no surprises for me. Bivol was Bivol. Canelo was Canelo. It was a good day for Bivol and it was not a good day for Alvarez.

“You learn from losses. We’re at the level that a loss can only make you stronger. I think it’s good for Canelo because that loss kind of brought him back to reality. He will make the right conclusions from that fight to be a better boxer.”

With an ear-to-ear smile and wink of an eye, Golovkin said, “Bivol is good.”

When Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) was asked if Alvarez’s move to 175-pounds was a good idea for Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs), and if the loss was due to competing in a foreign weight class against a much bigger fighter, the Kazakh knockout artist threw a jab and quipped about his rival’s growing love for golf. 

“I would refrain from commenting whether it was a good decision or a bad one. There are experts who have already shared their opinion on that. For me, it didn’t really matter. He did what he wanted to do,” said Golovkin. “Participating in golf tournaments – that’s a good idea. That’s something that he should do. Jumping around weight categories, I don’t know.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.