Does Canelo have much more to prove?

By Boxing News - 10/18/2019 - Comments

By Gavin Howie: Canelo Alvarez is rated the p4p number 1 boxer in the world according to boxrec and undoubtedly in most peoples top 5 p4p, but does his resume look better than it actually is? Canelo has wins against some modern day greats on his record, but if you take a closer look then there is also a very smart business man as well as a talented boxer that definitely sets him apart from the rest. He is now the face of boxing and holds that golden ticket. He carefully selects his opponents, getting them at the perfect time and every boxer in and around his weight is looking for that big payday that he can offer them.

Saul Canelo Alvarez was born on July 18 1990, the youngest of eight siblings, 7 of which were male and all became professional boxers. Canelo started boxing at the age of 13, after watching his older brother Rigoberto Alvarez’s professional debut. Only 2 years later Canelo turned professional, on October 29 2005 where he beat Abraham Gonzalez by a 4th round tko. By the time Canelo reached the age of 29 he had become a three weight world champion, and on November 2 2019 he could make that four when he steps up to light heavyweight to meet the formidable and future Hall of Famer Sergey Kovalev. I fancy Canelo to stop Kovalev with a late body shot and indeed become a four weight world champion. With all that he has achieved, does Canelo get the respect he deserves, or does he cherry pick the right opponent at the right time?

If you take a look at his record it is difficult not to be impressed with all the names he has on it, but if you look a little bit closer there is an argument to be said he has not actually defeated a peak A grade fighter. A fighter who has not been weight drained, dragged up in weight, over the hill, past his best, or one where he has had a gift from the judges. Canelo only has 1 official loss on his record, but that could have been much more if you take into account many of his close decision wins against the likes of Trout, Lara, Cotto and Golovkin, with whom he had 1 close, or controversial win and 1 controversial draw. If you take that into account, Canelo could have as much as 6 loses on his record. His one and only official loss came against Floyd Mayweather where he arguably lost every single round and even then 1 judge somehow managed to score it 114-114.

How many of Canelo’s world title fight wins have been against peak opposition with no controversy? Maybe Danny Jacobs or perhaps Liam Smith? It is debatable to class either of them as A grade fighters. Not many more actually spring to mind. Could he have lived with the Golovkin of 5 years ago? Would he fancy his chances against the winner of the Beterbiev v Gvozdyk fight, should he defeat Kovalev? Going even further back, it would be interesting to see him in against a peak Mosley or indeed Cotto. I do not have any doubts regarding Canelo’s ability. I think he is a boxer at his absolute peak, but I also think he is very smart at his match making to put the chances of winning favorably on his side.

What do the readers think about this?

YouTube video