‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin calling their bout ‘the real fight’

The megafight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin was dubbed “Middleweight Supremacy,” but Golden Boy Promotions might want to consider a different name.

Alvarez, Golovkin and their promoters kept referring to the Sept. 16 bout at T-Mobile Arena as “the real fight” during their three-city press tour this week.

It was an obvious dig aimed at the Aug. 26 bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC superstar Conor McGregor, who has never fought in a professional or amateur boxing match. Mayweather and McGregor will fight Aug. 26 at T-Mobile Arena.

Mayweather and McGregor took the spotlight away from Alvarez and Golovkin when they announced their cross-sport fight last week.

“This is a real middleweight fight between two fighters who have been boxing their entire lives and something the fans really called for, and I believe will end in a knockout,” said Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who wrote an open letter to boxing fans last month pleading them not to support the Mayweather-McGregor bout.

Golovkin called the once fantasy bout a circus, and Alvarez said the Mayweather-McGregor fight will hurt boxing if it doesn’t deliver.

Tom Loeffler, Golovkin’s promoter, said he was going to stay away from the war of words between the two blockbuster pay-per-view bouts.

“I think we just need to focus on Canelo and Triple G because this is literally the best fight that can be made in boxing, and Floyd has his fan base and certainly Conor is the leading star for the UFC, so I can’t knock that event,” Loeffler said this month. “I think both events will do well. I think it’s just a different spectacle, and some fans might need to choose.

“Fans know what they’re getting when Golovkin fights. He likes to go for knockouts, and Alvarez is the same way. With Mayweather, his fights are more cautious.”

The Alvarez-Golovkin fight was supposed to sell itself, but now the two middleweights find themselves having to promote heavily with Mayweather and McGregor jumping three weeks ahead.

Tickets for Alvarez-Golovkin went on sale this week on axs.com and t-mobilearena.com.

Pac Man on ESPN

ESPN and ESPN Deportes will televise Manny Pacquiao’s first non-pay-per-view bout in more than a decade when the Filipino fighter meets Australia’s Jeff Horn on July 1.

The coverage is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. with three undercard fights before Pacquiao and Horn meet at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. A sold-out crowd of 55,000 is expected to attend.

“The world has followed amazing Manny since he burst onto the scene in his U.S. debut in 2001, where he knocked out Lehlo Ledwaba to win his second of a record eight division world titles,” Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said in a statement. “We are excited that ESPN will air this fight throughout the U.S. in both English and Spanish. It’s going to be an unbelievable event.”

Pacquiao, a senator in the Philippines, hasn’t fought since defeating Las Vegan Jessie Vargas in November at the Thomas & Mack Center. Pacquiao’s last non-PPV bout was Sept. 10, 2005, when he stopped Hector Velazquez.

ESPN and Top Rank, which is based in Las Vegas, reportedly have agreed to a multi-fight deal.

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Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GManzano24 on Twitter.