By Mohamed Horomtallah
Dear Canelo,
There was a time when I must have been one of your biggest supporters. I admired the way you bounced back from the Mayweather loss and how you kept improving both from a skills and ring IQ standpoints.
You have always shown discipline and impeccable work ethics. Being popular as you were, you were destined to become the new face of boxing and you did just that. I have always looked forwards to your ring entrances accompanied by Vicente Fernandez’ “Mexico Lindo Y Querido”.
Today, you’re considered the best fighter in the world, and your main goal is legacy and entering the history books. In other words, you have arrived.
Or so it seems because you took the easy road. You managed to put asterisks next to many of your fights due to weight and hydration clauses giving you a clear advantage over your opponents. You had some close fights in which you didn’t separate yourself like the great ones do, not to mention the fact that one cannot help but feel that you were often favored by the judges. A clear example of that is C.J Ross scoring your fight against Mayweather…a draw!
You claim that you’re trying to secure your place in the history books but you could have already done it had you pursued undisputed at 154 and 160 but you elected instead to vacate each time and you even gave birth to the Franchise Belt, a designation many feel was tailor-made for you to avoid dangerous mandatories.
For someone aiming to go down in history as an all-time great, what better way to do it that to be undisputed in four divisions: 154, 160, 168, and 175 pounds?
I give you the benefit of the doubt for the Clenbuterol incident and I believe it’s not too late for you to correct the trajectory of your career.
You have a great opportunity to silence your critics and your next fight against Bivol is a step in the right direction. A top-level opponent and no weight or hydration clauses.
Should you beat the Russian and go after undisputed at 175, fans will have no choice but to give you credit. Full credit.
All you have to do then is face Benavidez because you’re only undisputed on paper at 168 if you don’t fight the boss of the division.
And one more thing: you have to see Charlo and Andrade because you avoided them at 154 and 160. Why leave any doubts?
In my humble opinion, this is your roadmap to greatness…
Sincerely,
Mohamed. H