Boxing superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez dramatically collapsed after the weigh in for his mega fight rematch with Gennady ‘Triple G’ Golovkin, raising fears over his condition for the bout in Las Vegas on Saturday.
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Canelo weighed inside the 160 lbs middleweight limit at 159.1 lbs ahead of the world middleweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, with Kazakhstan’s Golovkin weighing in at 159.6.
After the two boxers stepped off the scales, Canelo was checked over by his entourage, donning their conspicuous Mexican flag-themed tracksuits, the fighter instantly falls down.
The Mexican was quickly helped to his feet, as if having suffered a flash knockdown. The most likely reason for the collapse is dehydration as fighters regularly rid their bodies of excess water in order to make their division weight limit before a fight.
Moments before the collapse, the two fighters had faced off with a fired-up Canelo marching straight over and provocatively putting his head on Golovkin’s, sparking a fracas involving members of each fighter’s camp.
When things calmed down, a fractious Canelo rattled off a punch combination for the fans, his behavior in stark contrast to a clam Golovkin, who remained collected throughout.
The two fight for the WBA Super and WBC middleweight titles in a rematch of their bout one year ago, declared a controversial split draw, at the same venue. The winner, barring a repeat of that result, will be regarded as the best middleweight in the sport.