Canelo vs GGG RESULT: Alvarez WINS by unanimous decision

The trilogy came closest to their battles, but it ended in another wild night of Mexican celebrations for a Canelo victory on this famous Strip.

Overall, it was the least dazzling of the three encounters, but it was brought to a tense climax by Triple G’s late rally that brought him within touching distance of what he would have seen as justice.

It was close enough to put another draw on my map, but in those circumstances, a narrow win for Canelo Alvarez is no controversy.

The Mexican got the nod from all three judges, with a score of 116-112 and two of 115-113 as he claimed a decisive win

One judge’s score of 116-112 was out of balance, but the other two cards of 115-113 win a unanimous win can rest on everyone’s conscience.

Canelo thrilled the seething T-Mobile Arena with a stormy start that seemed to have won the fight halfway through. Indeed, if two or three more of his wild swings had landed to the left, he could have gotten the final KO he craved.

Exactly where Golovkin found the energy in his 40-year-old body to finish a grandstand, only the Kazakh can know. There were moments when he silenced the crowd, but perhaps it was just too little too late.

In the end, the result was acceptable everywhere. Golovkin left his grievances behind to congratulate his conqueror as “a great warrior.”

Canelo hugged the man who had been his most bitter rival over the years, paid an equal compliment, and thanked him for sharing history with him.

And we all went into the night happy.

This had been in the melting pot for four years. Nearly half a decade of bad blood and delay, accusations and anger, demands and denials. All after two dazzling battles besmirched by judgmental controversies.

We only got here in the end because Canelo needed a flight to redemption after the second loss of his career to unheralded Russian light-heavyweight Dimitry Bivol four months ago.

And because Golovkin had continued to defy Father Time when he turned 40 and caught up with Canelo by reaching super middleweight for the first time in his career. And agreed to return to this scene of what he considers the crimes with which the Vegas judges inflicted the only defeat and draw of his career, in favor of Alvarez.

Oh, and for the money. This is the battle DAZN’s digital TV network had foreseen when they put some of Sir Len Blavatnik’s billions into boxing. With the heavy dues to be paid in purses well into the eight figures when it came to fruition.

Some of that investment was recouped through pay-per-view purchases in America for $85 each. And with thousands of Mexico’s independence revelers flocking here, Sin City turned into Margarita-ville and the T-Mobile Arena wrapped up in pilgrimage.

For Triple G, who hasn’t fought in his native Kazakhstan for eight years, there was nothing new about fighting both the crowd and the opponent.

The ultimate warrior on the road is adept at shutting out noise, even as cacophonous as mariachi music to the roar of Viva Mexico.

But as the noise that greeted the footage on the giant screens of Canelo warming up with his team echoed down the halls, cameras were locked outside Golovkin’s dressing room for part of his preparations.

Alvarez entered the arena with the famous Mexican singer Alejandro Fernandez walking on his shoulder and making patriotic songs, to the rapture of the audience. The scene was well and truly set.

When the fight started, it was Canelo who came out swinging as he had promised, although the big lefts missed and Golovkin probably pushed the opener.

Canelo then got going in the second, establishing his own jab and connecting with some hefty right hands as he scored his first round of the fight.

The super middleweight champion then went on the attack, also to the body where Team Alvarez believed they had discovered a weakness in Triple G’s recent fights.

Although Golovkin himself started to apply some pressure, the fourth round was another that Canelo took. Like round five, with Canelo landing the much heavier shots as he went looking for his promised KO. A body shot made Triple G stumble back into the ropes.

The tide started to change as the mid-rounds approached, with Golovkin sniffing sixth and seventh, perhaps too close to call. However, Alvarez then threw a big three-punch combination to seal the eighth.

Golovkin is finally coming out of his shell with four laps to go – and he rocked Alvarez with a gunshot from left and right from all angles.

The 40-year-old continued to rally as the business end of the fight neared, but Canelo saved himself in the 12th with a late flurry.

Relive Sportsmail’s live blog for the undisputed super middleweight clash between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.