Mosley: Canelo vs. Golovkin is an even fight

By Boxing News - 01/30/2016 - Comments

1-CANELO ALVAREZ 05By Dan Ambrose: 44-year-old Shane Mosley believes that WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) has the skills, speed and punching power to fight unbeaten Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) on even terms if/when the two of them face each other one of these days.

Mosley was soundly beaten by a 21-year-old Canelo four years ago in 2012 in losing by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110. Mosley looked like a lightweight in the ring against a middleweight in that fight, and it’s not surprising that he lost by a one-sided fight.

It would have been the same thing if Canelo fought an opponent that was four divisions above his natural weight. You throw Canelo in the ring with a heavyweight, and I think he would have some major problems trying to match up and survive.

Mosley hasn’t been in the ring with Golovkin for a fight, so you have understand that he can’t know what it’s like to fight the Kazakhstan fighter. All Mosley can do is speculate.

“I don’t think he’s too big for Canelo,” Mosley said about Golovkin to Fighthype. “I think he’s just right for Canelo, because Canelo is a big guy. Canelo is really good. He’s sharp, he’s fast, and he has power. He’s able to fight somebody like Golovkin. Gennady Golovkin is a 160 pounder that could squeeze down to 154. Canelo is 54, but he’s a big 54 that can go up to 160. They’re meeting at the same level now. He’s a good fighter. I’ve seen Canelo walk around at 180. When sparring him, he was at 175. He comes into the gym big. When I see Gennady Golovkin, he’s like 175. When I see him at the gym, they’re both the same size. Canelo can fight. Triple G would bully [Miguel] Cotto around all over the ring. I don’t think so [that Golovkin would dominate Canelo]. It would be an even fight. Canelo has good, sharp punches and power. Gennady Golovkin will bully him. It’ll be an interesting fight,” Mosley said.

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I agree with Mosley when he says that Golovkin would bully Canelo if the two of them were to face each other. I also agree with Mosley when he says that they’re both roughly the same size. I think Canelo is maybe 10 pounds heavier than Golovkin, but it’s enough of a weight advantage for Canelo to squash him like he’s done with some of his lighter opponents. However, if Canelo can get Golovkin to agree to a 155lb catch-weight that he likes to fight at, then it’s possible that it could weaken Golovkin enough to where Canelo can squash him with his weight advantage.

Canelo is going to have a lot of problems with Golovkin’s punching power and boxing skills if they face each other this year. Golovkin is simply a far better fighter than Canelo, and he doesn’t need to have a big advantage in order to be better. Golovkin has the skills and the power to do the job on the 25-year-old Mexican fighter. But that could change if Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions wait Golovkin out until he’s an old man to fight him. It would be like what Floyd Mayweather Jr. did with Manny Pacquiao by waiting until he was an older fighter who was no longer looking sharp before fighting him. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t put it past Canelo and Golden Boy to wait Golovkin out until he’s old before finally taking him on for a fight. Golovkin will obviously take the fight with Canelo no matter when he can get it, but I only see him being able to do well if the fight gets made now while Golovkin still has some of his youth left.

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Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffer is saying that they’re not going to negotiate with Canelo on the weight for their title fight. If the fight involves the WBC middleweight title, then it must take place at 160. However, Loeffler says that could change if Golovkin picks up the title and Canelo becomes a challenger. In that case, they would be open to fighting Canelo at a catch-weight that is negotiated. If Canelo gets much bigger, I don’t see him wanting to use his catch-weights any longer because it’ll start hurting him more than his opponents. It probably already is hurting Canelo and he just doesn’t realize it because he’s keeping himself at the 155lb weight artificially by draining down huge amounts of weight each time he fights.



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