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A week before Christmas, we get a huge weekend of middleweight boxing. Lineal champ Canelo Alvarez is back in action on Saturday, and that is preceded by Gennady Golovkin putting his IBF and IBO titles on the line against Kamil Szeremeta. Golovkin and Szeremeta square off at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on Friday evening, with the main card getting underway at 5 p.m. ET.
Golovkin is in action for the first time in over a year. He last fought in October of 2019, beating Sergiy Derevyanchenko via unanimous decision to claim the vacant IBF and IBO titles. Golovkin was previously the undisputed middleweight champ and ranked as The Ring Magazine’s top pound-for-pound fighter for in 2017 and 2018. He had a split decision-draw against Canelo Alvarez in September 2017 and then lost a majority decision to Alvarez in their September 2018 rematch. He’s since won two fights as he works to get back on track in the division.
Szeremeta is 21-0 and the IBF mandatory challenger. He too last fought in October 2019, on the undercard of Golovkin’s title fight. He defeated Oscar Cortes via TKO and has five total stoppages in his career.
The fight was originally scheduled for February and April, but is finally set to happen this weekend. If Golovkin and Alvarez both win, it would likely set up a 2021 third fight between the two.
We’ve seen a little bit of movement heading into fight week. Golovkin opened as -2500 on the moneyline, but has since moved to -3335. Szeremeta has opened at +1000, but is not sitting at +900.
Current odds
Moneyline
Gennadiy Golovkin: -3335
Kamil Szeremeta: +900
Moneyline 3-way
Gennadiy Golovkin: -2500
Kamil Szeremeta: +1000
Tie: +2200
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