By Dan Ambrose: Two years have gone by since former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) lost his two 154lb titles to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in losing by a 12 round decision in September 2013, and since then, Canelo has beaten Alfredo Angulo, Erislandy Lara and James Kirkland.
Lara was a top fighter, whereas Angulo and Kirkland were seen as aging and inactive guys from yesterday. Canelo, 25, says he’s improved from the Mayweather loss and has picked up more experience.
Canelo feels that he’s ready for even someone like Gennady Golokvin despite him saying earlier this week that Golovkin is a fight that can happen in the future when he’s fighting at the full weight for the middleweight division. Canelo also said that Golovkin could fight him now at a catch-weight of 155lbs.
Thus far, we haven’t heard anything from Golovkin about that offer, but his trainer Abel Sanchez made it clear that they’re not going to fight Canelo at a catch-weight. A catch-weight wouldn’t really help Canelo for a fight against Golovkin because he’ll likely need to cut more weight than him in getting down to 155.
“A lot,” Canelo said to Fighthype about him improving since his loss to Mayweather. “I think I am a more solid fighter, more complete, and with more experience. So we have to put it to use on November 21st. Yes, I am ready for whoever.”
When asked if he’s ready to fight Gennady Golovkin, Canelo repeated “I’m ready for whoever.”
That’s nice that Canelo says he’s ready for whoever when asked if he’d be willing to fight Golovkin, but what he’s not saying is whether he would be willing to face him at 160. I think the answer is no. Canelo seems to believe that he needs the catch-weight of 155 for the Golovkin fight for some reason despite him weighing more than him after he rehydrates.
Why Canelo feels like he needs to be heavier could be a mental thing for him. After all, Canelo has become accustomed to being heavier than many of his opponents. When you get used to being the heavier guy in the ring, it’s kind of a shock when you face a guy that you only have a small five pound weight advantage over instead of a 10 to 15 pound advantage.
I don’t see Canelo getting any taller in the future, and the extra weight that he puts on in the future will likely make it more difficult for his cardiovascular system. I think Canelo would be better off facing Golovkin now while he’s younger at 25 and not carrying around so much mass like it will be later in his career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuSTvDjB38o
If Canelo rehydrates to 180 to 185 instead of 175 to get down to 155 or 160, it’s a lot of weight for him to be taking off. I don’t think that’s going to help him when he’s 27 or older and asking his body to lose that amount of water weight and then put it on quickly.
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