Canelo Alvarez has boxing back on his feet after settling feud with Gennadiy Golovkin

Saul Alvarez is a one namer.

In fact, the cinnamon-haired Mexican had become the boxing equivalent of Prince, Madonna and Sting thanks to winning performances in championship bouts since the age of 20.

But after a haphazard defeat to Dmitry Bivol in May, Canelo was another incongruously night away from being re-dubbed as the Nickelback version of the ring.

It’s no wonder, then, that the four-weight division winner – and reigning 168-pound kingpin – was determined to put on a show to remember against Gennadiy Golovkin on Saturday night.

Early reviews suggest he did just that. And then some.

Alvarez, now 32, sang a razor-sharp line at the expense of his two-time rival, beating the older man early and maintaining the pace late en route to a clear unanimous decision. It instantly became the least talked about result in a trilogy that spanned exactly five years and two days.

The two men battled it out to a split-decision tie in their first round of Go in September 2017, returning a year later to participate in 12 more rounds of nip-and-tuck that ended in a majority nod for Alvarez.

Many boxing watchers, not to mention Golovkin himself, insisted it might as well have been 2-0 towards the Kazakh. This only added fuel to the fire for a third encounter that avoided pre-fight handshakes and friendly greetings for cold looks and the promise of violent chaos.

And while it wasn’t exactly Gatti-Ward by the latter measure, Rounds 25-36 were still just as compelling as Rounds 1-24 for the pound-for-pound stars, their power-boxing skills, thirst for aggression and Will to Win were as complementary as any trilogy from last year’s season.

While Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran were studies in contrast in the 1980s — and Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier a decade earlier — Alvarez and Golovkin were perfectly suited because they were so utterly alike, which is what made their trilogy most reminiscent of Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield remembered.

These heavyweights traded narrow decision victories in 1992 and 1993 before Bowe ended the streak two years later with a TKO win from behind that dropped both fighters.

Though Duran was a four-time defending champion and Frazier an Olympic and professional champion, each is a step behind its two-time conqueror when it comes to historical discussions. Golovkin, while still an incumbent at 160 pounds, appears to have met the same fate when it comes to Alvarez.

The winner, meanwhile, will surely climb back to the undisputed “face of the sport” title he held before losing to Bivol in the spring, when Alvarez decided to return to light heavyweight to renew his title claim. d already played against Sergey Kovalev in 2019.

Instead, the undefeated but largely unheralded Bivol schooled him in style over 12 rounds, resulting in a precipitous drop down to fifth place The ringPound-for-pound list ahead of this week’s fight.

“The win in their trilogy fight was impressive and came against an undeniable future Hall of Famer,” Randy Gordon, former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, told Bleacher Report. “This Hall of Famer was 40 years old. While the win keeps him high on the pound-for-pound list, he will still look up to others on that list.

“However, defeating GGG still keeps Canelo as the Fort Knox of boxing.”

AP Photo/John Locher

And while a clear loss from an aging opponent doesn’t justify ousting the four men who now face him, it certainly puts Alvarez back in the driver’s seat of matchmaking.

He will have lucrative opportunities to either avenge the Bivol loss, pursue another belt-wearing Quarry at 175, or take on a burgeoning group of new suitors at 168, where he has a flawless 7-0 in stops between middleweight and light heavyweight.

Also out there in the distance is a potential catchweight bout between him and three-belt heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who confirmed his claim with a second straight decision against Anthony Joshua last month in Saudi Arabia.

The 35-year-old Ukrainian was a 2012 Olympic gold medalist at 200lbs and conquered all professional cruiserweight belts before climbing the ladder full-time in 2019.

Alvarez initially floated the idea days before the Bivol loss and both he and Usyk still expressed interest in the prospect, anticipating a Golovkin defeat heading into the weekend.

It may not be the right way to compete given Usyk’s huge advantages in height (6’3″ to 5’8″) and range (78″ to 70.5″) and obvious technical acumen, but it’s exactly the kind of babble The Prodigal Son can get involved now that he’s returned to behind-the-rope status reserved for his Superstar class.

“I don’t think he’s ever really lost that position, except um [Tyson] Fury,” ex-HBO punch-for-beat man Jim Lampley told Bleacher Report.

“I’m sure most of his fans see the loss to Bivol as some kind of aberration. And it’s the size of that base that makes it what it is. You won’t give him up until he takes a real beating.

“The real money is in the Usyk fight. But I think Canelo prefers winning to money.”

Welcome back to the penthouse, champion. Eminem will take your coat.