By Patrick McHugh: Middleweight contender Willie Monroe Jr. (21-2, 6 KOs) decided to chime in on his thoughts last night in who will come out on top in the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin fight if it gets made next year in September. Monroe has sparred with Canelo in the past, and he fought Golovkin last year in getting stopped in the 6th round.
Monroe says he believes that Canelo will beat Golovkin. Monroe is totally convinced that Canelo has the goods to win that fight. He thinks it’ll be a good match due to their different styles, but he believes that Golovkin’s habit of coming forward to pressure his opponents will be perfect for the counter punching Canelo to beat him.
Monroe notes that Canelo does well against guys that come to him looking to slug. He thinks that Canelo needs to have his opponents come at him for him to be able to do well, considering he has a lot of tricks that he likes to use against pressure fighters.
Monroe Jr. defeated Gabriel Rosado (23-10, 13 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision last night on the Canelo vs. Liam Smith card at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The win for the 29-year-old Monroe may have earned him a crack at fighting Canelo next December. We’re going to find out really soon if Golden Boy will make that fight, because they don’t have much time to select Canelo’s next opponent before they start to promote the fight to create interest from the boxing public.
“Intellect, man; not only is Canelo a big puncher, but he’s very intelligent himself,” said Monroe last night. “He has a lot of experience. I think Canelo beats Triple G. Canelo needs you to come to him for him to get off his tricks. He’s a counter puncher. People see his body work and see how vicious he is and they think he’s Mike Tyson. Canelo is a very skilled counter puncher, and Triple G is not particularly fast. If Triple G tries to walk Canelo down, he’s going to be in for a big surprise. Canelo has great upper body movement. He has great punch selection. He puts his combinations well when you’re coming at him. I personally think Canelo will beat Triple G just because of styles. He’s [Golovkin] a solid puncher, but he’s skillfully awkward. So a lot of things you don’t notice from the outside, when you get in there, it’s a lot different. I’ve never been taught how to block and over and down hook. He kind of throws it in a loop where it comes down on top of your head, where it comes down on top of your chin. But the angle it comes from, you’re like, ‘How am I supposed to block this?’ He’s skillfully awkward, but that’s what makes him such a good fighter,” said Monroe about Golovkin.
You can argue that Monroe might have a reason to be smothering Canelo with compliments right now when it comes to his analysis of a potential Canelo-Golovkin fight. Monroe is in the same Golden Boy stable as Canelo, and he wants to fight him next in December. It might not be a good idea for Monroe to talk down about Canelo, because it might result in him being put on ignore by the Mexican star. By saying good stuff about Canelo, it could increase Monroe’s chances of getting a fight against him.
There’s no way of knowing whether Monroe actually believes what he’s saying about Canelo being able to beat Golovkin. Monroe will probably get the fight against Canelo in December, because Golden Boy needs an opponent for him to fight, and they haven’t been matching him tough since he was almost beaten by Erislandy Lara in 2014. I think Golden Boy and Canelo learned a lesson in taking that fight. They’ve been very careful since when it comes to matching Canelo.
Monroe did not do well against Golovkin last year. Golovkin knocked Monroe down twice in the 2nd and once in the 6th to get the stoppage. The fight probably would have been over in round two if Golovkin didn’t back off after dropping Monroe twice. Golovkin said afterwards that he had let Monroe survive so that he could get rounds in. You have to believe Golovkin, because when he turned up the heat on Monroe in the fifth, he had him hurt once again. Golovkin then finished Monroe in the 6th.