By Sam Genge: Saul Canelo Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) has so far had an exceptionally successful career and is still so young. At only 26, the one blemish on his record comes from a loss to the one and only Floyd Mayweather Jnr, a talent that Canelo’s trainer ‘Chepo’ Reynoso referred to as “the greatest alive” in a recent HBO 24/7 episode.
At 26 years of age, Canelo has fought numerous world champions and, with the exception of Mayweather, has beaten all that he has come up against. So, why does Canelo seem to cop so much criticism? He continuously steps up and fights class A fighters like Mayweather, Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Austin Trout and soon to be Gennady Glolovkin. There is no other active fighting 26 year old with a resume like Canelo’s at this point in time. I am sure that the reader, like myself is frustrated by the catchweight that he fights at but most of those types of decisions would have been made by Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya, after all he is Golden Boy Promotions cash cow.
Canelo constantly does what is asked of him, after the “fight of the century” with Mayweather and Pacquiao people yearned for action and what did Canelo do – stood toe to toe and knocked out James Kirkland in devastating fashion. He fought Erislandy Lara, a tough slick pure boxer (much to the dissatisfaction of his promoter Oscar De La Hoya) and pulled through for the win. Canelo battled future Hall of Famer in Miguel Cotto and displayed magnificent poise and counter punching to get the win. He fights Amir Khan and whilst appeared to struggle with Khan’s speed at times still knocked him out in one of the most brutal KO’s you’ll see. Canelo moved up 2 divisions to set up a Mexican blockbuster against Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr and completely dominated him to win all 12 rounds.I guess what I am getting at here is why is it that after all of this, it still seems like Canelo is always searching for validation from fight fans?
Canelo will head into the fight with Gennady Golovkin (37-0) on the opposite side of the bookmakers odds to what he is used to. Although it appears he will be the “A” side on fight night, it is GGG that the bookmakers are favoring. This seems a little strange to me, GGG is now 35 years of age which is pretty old in this sport and has started to show it a little in his past two fights. It has become evident that GGG struggles slightly defensively especially with combination/counter punching opponents – something that Canelo right in his prime does extremely well. Now, don’t get me wrong I love GGG, he is one of my favorite fighters right now but Canelo is much stronger than Kell Brook and throws decent combinations along side very effective counter punching and a solid defense. Neither fighter has touched the canvas in their careers, and im confident at least one of them will in this fight and as much as I want GGG to win, I think Canelo will win quite comfortably.
If Canelo wins the fight against Golovkin, will he be the number 1 P4P fighter in the sport? Will he finally receive the respect and validation that he has rightfully earned or will we find someone else he is “ducking”? Alternatively, if Canelo loses to GGG, what will that mean for his career?
Either way, I am extremely excited for this fight and I hope that you are too, it is going to be a blockbuster.