By Gav Duthie: It is fair to say that if James Kirkland was seen as a big test for Canelo Alvarez he passed with flying colors. After the Mexican won with such quality the prospect of him fighting Gennady Golovkin is fast becoming the most anticipated fight in boxing.
Canelo has shown that he is much more suited to fighting aggressive, pressure boxers rather than defensive ones like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Erislandy Lara and even Austin Trout. It is most likely that Golden Boy Promotions will want to wait before fighting Golovkin and aim for Miguel Cotto first.
Canelo is now by far Oscar De La Hoya’s greatest asset and will stall before he takes the risk. However, having seen Alvarez performance Oscar will undoubtedly feel he could maybe beat GGG. When matchmaking the best way to ascertain if you can face up to a certain opponent is to find one similar (James Kirkland) or take on a shared opponent i.e., Miguel Cotto versus Daniel Geale. Canelo has passed his audition but will Cotto.
Canelo v Kirkland
It would be naive of me to compare Kirkland’s abilities directly to that of Golovkin’s. Kirkland is a bull in a china shop always looking to force a knockout where as GGG is composed. He delivers controlled pressure and takes his time. The sentiment is there though, Canelo has no problem fighting big punching pressure fighters, he won’t be intimidated, he can fight back, counter punch and take the fight to his opponent.
Cotto v Geale
The other way is to compare your performance against a shared foe. I was surprised to hear Cotto was fighting Daniel Geale next. After fighting for one title and getting knocked out in 3 rounds by Golovkin its difficult to justify Geale getting another shot. Geale did win a crossroads fight against former contender and Australian compatriot Jarrod Fletcher by 12 rd decision. On reflection though it starts to make sense from a matchmaking point of view for Cotto to face Geale. If there is any thought from Cotto or Roc Nation promotions to match him up with Golovkin then comparing his performance against Geale is a good start.
Cotto or Canelo v Golovkin
I think if Cotto struggles with Geale, which he might, he won’t go anywhere near Golovkin. Canelo is the fight he wants. When Mayweather fought Cotto and Canelo faced Shane Mosley on the undercard, I thought they should fight after that. This was 3 years ago and with each passing day I feel Canelo would now beat Cotto. As for Golovkin, however, I can’t see either fighter taking him on anytime soon.
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