Tim Bradley says Canelo beats Beterbiev

By Boxing News - 10/25/2021 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Tim Bradley believes Canelo Alvarez would pick light heavyweight champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol apart right now with his boxing skills. Bradley doesn’t view either of those two 175-lb champions being capable of beating Canelo.

Bradley also thinks Gennadiy Golovkin is too old and past it at his ripe age of 39. Although Golovkin can still punch, Bradley believes he’s too old for him to beat Canelo.

The fighter that Bradleydoes believe would give Canelo issues is former WBO 168-lb champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo Ramirez. Bradley feels that with Ramirez’s steady work rate and chin, he can give Canelo problems.

Canelo would pick Beterbiev and Bivol apart

“You’ve got to have the punching power to get respect because he’ll walk straight through you,” said Tim Bradley to Fight Hub TV about Canelo.

Image: Tim Bradley says Canelo beats Beterbiev

“He’ll put the high guard up, and he’ll walk right straight to you, slip pop, make you pay. You got to be able to fight on the inside to negate his inside game and his work.

“You got to be able to move a little bit on him, especially when he covers up because he can go around on the sides when you have guys that put those earmuffs on.

“He’ll put them on, boom. You hit him here, and you can go this way. Then he has to reset and turn. So, it’s going to take a smart guy to beat a guy like Canelo, and I don’t see a guy right now. Not at 168, not at 175.

“I’m looking.  They’re saying, ‘[Artur] Beterbiev.’ Beterbiev can punch, but he eats shots. He eats shots for a living.

“Straight line, great technical inside, but he eats shots. Canelo will be able to ‘pop, boom, pop,’ and move on and make him miss and make him pay. [Dmitry] Bivol, the same thing.

“Bivol, a good technician, but he’s straight here and here [forwards and backward].  It’s nothing hard to figure out.

“He had a challenge in his last fight [against Craig Richards],” said Bradley about Bivol. “I was like, ‘Wow, he’s getting touched up,’ and he doesn’t fight often either.  It’s much inactivity,” said Bradley about Bivol.

The inactivity that IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Beterbiev has been dealing with lately makes it hard to know if he’d beat Canelo.

Also, Beterbiev is about to turn 37, and he’s getting up there in age. He might be too old to beat Canelo at this point.

Gilberto Ramirez gives Canelo good fight

“Let’s see who else. The guy that I think could possibly [beat Canelo]. Nah,” said Bradley when asked if Gennadiy Golovkin could potentially beat Canelo. “Golovkin, GGG, to me, is way past his prime now. Personally, he’s got punching power. He’s just past his prime,” said Bradley.

Canelo wants nothing to do with IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin after his narrow win over him in 2018 in their rematch.

It doesn’t matter whether Golovkin was in his prime or not. Canelo still wouldn’t want to fight GGG, and it’s obvious why.

When you’re willing to take less money to fight guys like Callum Smith, Avni Yildirim, Rocky Fielding, and Billy Joe Saunders than what you would get fighting Golovkin, that tells you there’s fear there with Canelo.

He’d make a lot more money by fighting Golovkin, but he won’t do it, and it’s understandable why.

“The guy that we don’t talk about much, that we don’t see much of is Gilberto Ramirez,” said Bradley. “Zurdo. He’s strong, he’s consistent, he’s a southpaw, he’s got every punch in boxing, and he can take a punch.

“He’s been in the trenches, he’s a champion, he’s undefeated, he’s hungry, but we don’t see much of him,  but I think he’d be a good fight for Canelo.

“I don’t know if he can beat him, but I know it’ll be a hell of a fight if they were to fight, a hell of a fight,”  said Bradley.

Former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez (42-0, 28 KOs) has fought only three times since 2019, and he’s been far too inactive.

When Zurdo was fighting twice a year, he would have given Canelo fits. Canelo has never mentioned wanting to fight Ramirez, and it’s likely he won’t start now.

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