By Jeff Aranow: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez says he gets criticized despite him having fought the best fighters in the world. He says he no longer pays attention to his critics. He says he’s 25 and still getting dumped by people. Canelo’s criticism is largely the result of his habit of fighting smaller guys than himself.
It started originally when Canelo was boiling down to 147 to fight smaller guys than him in the welterweight division. It then continued when Canelo moved up to the junior middleweight division and fought for the vacant WBC 154lb title against a welterweight in Matthew Hatton at a catch-weight in 2011 rather than fighting one of the top 15 contenders that were ranked at the time by the World Boxing Council.
“I’ve faced the best in the world and I still get criticized. It doesn’t matter what I do,” said Canelo to fighthype. “I really don’t pay attention to critics anymore. I’m 25 years old and I fought the best in the world.”
Boxing fans and writers in the media don’t have any problems with some of the fights that Canelo has had. The fans take an issue with Canelo’s catch-weight fights, and like I said, his habit of fighting smaller guys than himself. Lately, fans have taken issue with Canelo not facing Gennady Golovkin, his WBC mandatory challenger. Fans want to see the Canelo-Golovkin fight and they don’t understand why Canelo is delaying the fight.
The fans also don’t like how Canelo recently said that he’s not a middleweight, and that he’s not going to give Golovkin any concessions in a fight. The fans don’t understand why a fighter as heavy as Canelo would need a catch-weight advantage against a fighter that he out-weighs in Golokvin.
Canelo can quiet his critics if he stops fighting at catch-weights, and faces Golovkin. That’s the fight the fans want to see rather than watching Canelo fight guys like James Kirkland and Alfredo Angulo. Fans want to see Canelo fight the best each time he fights, and he can make that possible. He’s got the popularity to line up almost any opponent he wants.
“People can say whatever they want,” Canelo said to Fighthype.com. “I really don’t care. I’m going to go up to whatever weight that makes me feel comfortable. I could go up to 180-190. It really doesn’t matter. It’s my problem and my prerogative,” said Canelo.
Canelo rehydrating to the 180s or 190s are exactly one of the reasons why he takes criticism from fans. He’s clearly big enough to fight Golovkin without a catch-weight, and he’s definitely big enough to be a middleweight. For Canelo to still call himself a junior middleweight is confusing and hard to understand.
If Canelo is rehydrating to 190 or even the 180s, then that would suggest that he is a middleweight. Boiling down from that high of a weight to make his special 155lb catch-weight has got to be extremely difficult for Canelo to do. The fact that he can still do it is a product of his youth, as younger fighters seem to be better at draining down in weight for catch-weights than older fighters.
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