Canelo: OMGGG!

By sishaq - 05/25/2016 - Comments

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By Sishaq: Having since returned from the Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Amir ‘King’ Khan mega-fight and watched the replay on TV the following are a few observations. First, congratulations to Canelo on a sensational KO victory. He not only did what was expected of him but he showed improvements in his boxing skills. I was pleasantly surprised at his agility and the robust use of angles. I was equally impressed with his game plan of going exclusively to the body round after round after round just to setup an out-of-rhythm head shot.

With all of that said, however, there is one issue that needs to be highlighted. As the A-side of the fight Canelo absolutely had every right to dictate terms, such as making the title fight at the Canelo- catch weight of 155 lbs., instead of the full middleweight 160 lbs. But, what is unreasonable is refusing a rehydration limit in order to come in fight night weighing an unconfirmed 180+ lbs. That 25 lbs. weight difference put Canelo at light heavyweight. In other words, Canelo was in the ring fighting at FOUR weight classes above his opponent, a natural welterweight. That kind of disparity isn’t anywhere near an even playing field. Khan, vociferously accused of having a suspect chin even though a lead-fisted Marcos Maidana couldn’t put a single dent on it, absorbed quite a few shots straight to the chin from Canelo but immediately went down from a defenseless punch that connected solidly.

On the surface, the KO looks great but considering it came from a Light heavyweight onto a Welterweight is like praising a fighter with metal stitched into his gloves against a fighter without such gloves. The outcome is not impressive and in fact it’s reckless and borders on malicious intent. Aspiring to be the new face of boxing Canelo needs to seriously reconsider his approach to weight classes to avoid alienating fans, de-legitimizing his accomplishments, and risking his opponent’s health. This is a blood sport, not a death match from The Hunger Games!

Given the circumstances, Amir Khan proved to be a worthy challenger. He displayed superb boxing skills, quickness, range, and power to keep Canelo from rampaging like a bull in Pamplona. Unlike Erislandy Lara and Floyd Mayweather Jr., Khan took the fight to Canelo instead of peddling backwards to play it safe round after round. Khan could have easily duplicated their blueprint but what would that have accomplished? Prove the obvious – that Khan is the quicker fighter? Instead, Khan dared to be greater than them by taking his elite offensive skills to the bigger fighter, taking calculated risks with precision, timing, speed, explosiveness, and range. This resulted in Khan controlling the action for the first five rounds. Being in the T-Mobile arena, I can report first-hand the crowd was stunned with what was transpiring. Khan zapped Canelo-fans’ energy because he’d drop a quick combination and then zip out before any attack could be mounted, leaving Canelo befuddled time and again. Khan remained light on his feet and displayed brilliant bail out techniques near the ropes to earn the Mexican fan’s silence.

In the end though, Canelo found Khan out of position and exploited it like an assassin on the basketball court – hand down, man down! With a snap of the fingers Khan went from controlling the action to being out cold with only 30 seconds remaining in the 6th round. Seeing it live you could practically see the punch separate Khan’s soul from his body, causing him to fall lifeless onto the canvas. It looked worse live because on replay Khan at least appeared to be alert, just immobile. Indeed, the KO was devastating but it wasn’t anything like Manny Pacquiao, who laid face flat on the canvass amongst wondering minds whether he was even alive. At the end of the day, God decided who would win and so it just wasn’t to be Khan’s night.

As a conqueror of 11 world champions, that same punch would cleanly KO many welterweights so there’s no shame in such an outcome. Even in defeat Khan managed to prove a few noteworthy qualities. He’s brave hearted to step into the ring with a significantly more powerful opponent and not back pedal from the challenge in the ring, has elite ring generalship, is able to make adjustments mid-fight, and possesses sufficient power to keep even a Light heavyweight at bay. But Khan still has a lot more improvements to make, he must continue to hone his defense, be better disciplined to eliminate unforced errors, and have three to four different offensive styles mid-fight to keep opponents off-balance. Some will claim it will be difficult for Khan to go back down to Welterweight, but remember Ramadan is right around the corner and 30 days of fasting will naturally reduce him back down to even Junior Welterweight if he so chooses.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the medieval scoring that judges from Pol Pot’s regime would be envious of. By the end of round 5, Amir Khan was overwhelmingly recognized as ahead in the match. Yet, judge Glenn Trowbridge had Canelo up by an egregious four rounds, Glenn Feldman had Canelo up by a suspect one round, and Adalaide Byrd had Khan up by only one round. Mr. Trowbridge even gave round 1 to Canelo! Anyone with a pulse knows Khan is a super quick starter, who may have never lost the first round in any fight in his entire career.

Respected analyst and coach, Teddy Atlas called it what it is, “a corrupt sport.” Disgusted, he explained, “How one judge could have it four to one for Canelo — really, they should arrest that judge. What a travesty it would’ve been — let’s say he continues to box, let’s say that Khan didn’t get caught with that punch. Oh my God, what a travesty it would’ve been to have him continue boxing that way and have him lose the fight.” He added, “Like I say, it can only be one of two things: it can only be incompetence or corruption. And I don’t believe anyone can be that incompetent not to see those rounds for what they were. Really, it’s terrible. It’s just terrible that great athletes get in there and put so much on the line, put their life on the line, that the people that are supposed to look out for the sport, that they could be that corrupt and that poor and that bad. Something has to be done.” Agreed 1,000 percent, Teddy!

It makes one wonder how many hundreds if not thousands of deserving athletes have been robbed of a bright future. It’s long past time to step out of the dithering Dark Ages and into the Modern Era. The state of Nevada, city of Las Vegas, Golden Boy, Top Rank, Al Haymon, HBO, Showtime, and PBC at a minimum all have influence and must use it to collectively demand excellence in scoring. Otherwise, why bother with weight classes and drug testing. Why even have a referee altogether.

On a lighter note, given the roots of the fight arose out of a response to Donald Trump’s rhetoric, it would be fitting to deliver another Mexican-Muslim mega-fight since we have another 8 months before a new President takes oath. With persona non grata Eddie Hearn holding up the Kell Brook fight; perhaps Mexico’s living legend Juan Manual Marquez, a true welterweight, would be willing to step into the ring against Amir Khan to not only right the unfair fight Canelo offered but more importantly to ruffle a few more feathers atop Trump’s comb over. Likewise, Canelo vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin is another fight that is sure to be huge.

Many presume Canelo had an OMGGG moment and like a good boy relinquished the middleweight strap out of fear, but I’m of the position it was to gain leverage in negotiations. GGG now has the WBC middleweight belt which is what he primarily wanted, now Canelo feels free to dictate terms to his liking – aka the dreaded Canelo-catch weight. However, Team Canelo is making the assumption he is the A-side in negotiations. Not so fast. At the Canelo vs. Khan fight I gave the edge 65-35 to Canelo in terms of fan representation. It appeared Khan brought out a lot of UK and domestic fans of his own. More importantly, the overwhelming majority of Canelo’s fans appeared to be of Mexican and Hispanic descent. Don’t get me wrong, Canelo brought out a ton of fans. There just didn’t appear to be a cross-cultural resonance from other demographic groups (e.g., African-Americans, Asians, Whites, etc.). This lack of diversity delays Canelo ascension as the new face of boxing and until then he is not the automatic shoe in for the top slot as Golden Boy claims. GGG has easily sold out stadiums in New York and Los Angeles as a headliner. Canelo would be wise not to short-change GGG in negotiations and torpedo the bout altogether because of his perception of being the A-side.

Though it is debatable who is the A and who is the B, what isn’t are the ramifications. After gaining the belt from a one-legged Sergio Martinez, Miguel Cotto appeared to avoid GGG at all costs and at the expense of his legacy. Since vacating the belt he earned against Cotto, Canelo needs this fight more than GGG to maintain credibility in the eyes of the fan base, who also are trying to reach consensus on who is the top dog of the sport. I agree with Khan’s trainer Virgil Hunter’s insistence that Canelo needs to quit inventing weight classes and step into the ring against a true middleweight, like GGG. I too would like to see GGG consolidate all belts before moving up to face Andre Ward, as UFC’s Floyd Mayweather among many have called for him to do.