Canelo Alvarez "has to win" against Gennadiy Golovkin, claims Eddie Hearn 

Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin created history with two hugely successful fights in September 2017 and September 2018. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has expressed his excitement ahead of the recently announced third encounter for the pair. Hearn will, of course, be promoting the bout on September 17 through DAZN.

Canelo Alvarez was torn between the 'GGG' trilogy and an immediate rematch against Dmitry Bivol. On May 7, the world was left in shock as the then-pound-for-pound king was defeated by Bivol, who retained his WBA (Super) Light Heavyweight title.

With Alvarez now holding two professional losses on his record, he is under more pressure than ever to defeat the Kazakh star in September. Eddie Hearn believes this fight is career-defining for Alvarez, as he said on The DAZN Boxing Show:

"The first two fights were two of the greatest fights we’ve ever seen firstly. Secondly, the mirage of Canelo being this unbeatable fighter doesn’t exist. The reality is, coming off two losses almost puts your career in the balance. We know that Canelo went up to 175, it was a big ask, but he was expected to win that fight."

Hearn then explained why the upcoming bout is so important for Alvarez:

"He has to win this fight. If he loses to 'GGG' on September 17, where do you go from there? Back-to-back defeats against two different fighters, this time with almost no excuse. The toughest thing for Canelo in this fight is to bounce back from that defeat, he was devastated to lose to Bivol."

In the first fight between the pair in 2017, many fans were left in shock after the bout ended in a controversial draw. The general consensus among the media and fans was that Golovkin had clearly won the fight. After the controversy, it set up an even more intriguing rematch.

In the second contest, the fight was much more even and the Mexican came away with the victory. However, Golovkin and many viewers still felt that Alvarez wasn't deserving of the win. A majority of the media outlets also scored the bout for the Kazakh fighter. When the official scorecards were read out, 'GGG' immediately left the ring in disappointment.

Watch Alvarez vs. Golovkin 1 here:

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Will Canelo Alvarez face the best version of Gennadiy Golovkin?

'GGG' is now 40 years old and although he still holds world championship status, he is arguably nearing the end of his career. Meanwhile, Alvarez has just suffered his second career loss and will be eager to get back into the win column.

The Kazakh fighter was unable to secure a victory against Alvarez in the previous two bouts. That was when Golovkin was younger and arguably better than his current version. At 40, he may find the task even tougher than before.

Gennadiy Golovkin has proved to be one of boxing's greats and his lone loss in his professional career was a controversial one. However, the trilogy fight with his arch-rival may have come at the wrong time for the current Unified Middleweight Champion.