VIDEO: Is Canelo the GOAT at 168?

By Boxing News - 11/13/2021 - Comments

Last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, Canelo Alvarez squared off against Caleb Plant for undisputed super middleweight supremacy.

Canelo was the reigning unified WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight world champion, and Plant held the IBF version of the belt. Canelo dropped Plant twice in round 11 and scored an 11th round technical knockout. The victory provided Canelo with the unique distinction of becoming the only undisputed super middleweight champion during the brief history of the relatively newer weight class.

YouTube video

The victory also marked Canelo as the 6th boxer in the 4-belt era to achieve undisputed recognition in any weight class. That exclusive club also includes Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor, Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk, and most recently Josh Taylor, who received such recognition at junior welterweight earlier this year.

Even though the 168 pound weight class is new in the grand scheme of things, and even though it lacks the rich history of some of boxing’s more prestigious weight classes, there have still been some excellent boxers to have competed at and passed through the division. At first it acted as a home for overweight middleweights and smaller light heavyweights, but a lot of All Time Great boxers have fought at 168 including guys like Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Roy Jones Jr to name a few.

But the discussion of the greatest super middleweights of all time usually focuses primarily on three names – Joe Calzaghe, Andre Ward, and the aforementioned Roy Jones Jr. Those are the three names that usually top the list depending on who you ask – and this assumes we exclude all of the boxers who predated the 168 pound weight class, like Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore.

How does Canelo stack up against the Big 3 in Calzaghe, Ward, and Jones? Canelo just achieved something that none of those three ever did, none of the became THE undisputed champion at super middleweight. This begs the question…

Is Canelo Alvarez the greatest super middleweight of all time?

This edition of Rummy’s Corner will attempt to answer that question, while taking a quick look at the 168 pound credentials of Roy Jones, Joe Calzaghe, Andre Ward, and of course the man of the hour – Canelo Alvarez himself. For one man’s opinion please watch and enjoy the video.