By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez has put himself in a no-win situation by choosing to wait four years after his last fight against Gennadiy Golovkin to finally give him the trilogy match that he, fans, and DAZN have been asking for.
Trainer Derrick James says it’s not Canelo’s fault that Golovkin chooses to continue fighting at 40. He’s the one that has decided to continue fighting at this age, so Canelo shouldn’t be the one taking the blame.
DAZN and the boxing public have been pushing Canelo to fight Golovkin a third time.
Despite Canelo’s focus on his legacy, capturing world titles against champions that casual boxing fans have never heard of, the fans haven’t been bowled over by these fights.
Capturing world titles only means something if the fans are impressed with the champions that Canelo has been beating.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case for Canelo, and he’s thrown away the last four years of his career with his pursuit of collecting world titles for the sake of collecting them.
That’s why thee’s still a tremendous amount of interest from fans in seeing Canelo fight Golovkin again. Fans care about Golovkin, and they realize that he’s better than the paper champions Canelo has been beating one after another.
Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) will be turning 40-years-old on April 8th, and he’s rarely fought since his loss to Canelo in their rematch on September 15, 2018.
GGG has fought just three times in the last four years, and some boxing fans think he’s been waiting for the final trilogy match against Canelo before he retires.
If that’s Golovkin’s goal, Canelo will be able to get him off his back once and for all by fighting him on September 17th. Golovkin and Canelo still have interim fights they need to win before meeting in September.
Canelo faces WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol on May 7th, whereas IBF middleweight champion Golovkin battles WBA 160lb champion Ryota Murata on April 9th.
It’s assumed that Canelo and Golovkin will win their interim fights, but you never know. They both could lose, and it wouldn’t surprise Sean Jones if that worst-case scenario played out.
Canelo was losing the first half of his fights against the paper champions Caleb Plant and Billy Joe Saunders in 2021, and that’s a clear indication that the Mexican star is getting old. Canelo’s work rate was anemic and nowhere near the level of what it was when he was younger.
For his part, Golovkin looked slow and mechanical in his last two fights against Kamil Szeremeta and Steve Rolls, nowhere near the level that he once performed at during the prime of his career. Golovkin’s power remains formidable, so he was able to destroy those younger fighters.
If Golovkin had fought the same weak belt holders that Canelo has been padding his record with since 2018, he likely would have destroyed them all.
Canelo seems to have focused on quality over quality lately, failing to understand that to shape a legacy naturally, you have to fight opposition that the boxing world respects.
Canelo has been building his legacy backward, focusing on belt holders rather than fighting the best that would help him build a legacy that could match the greats like Salvador Sanchez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, and Alexis Arguello.
“Listen, here’s the thing about these 40-year-old guys. If you get in the ring, it’s on you for whatever happens to you because you obviously have to convince somebody of something,” said trainer Derrick James to Fight Hub TV when asked if Canelo Alvarez will receive criticism from boxing fans for fighting 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin on September 17th.
“Be mad at the promoter, be mad at his management, be mad at his wife, at his family for getting in the ring. That’s on him,” said James about it not being Canelo’s fault if he faces a 40-year-old Golovkin in September.
“Canelo can only beat the guys they put in front of him. That’s what it’s all about. If that is the case, he’s 40 and still fighting; why? That’s the question. ‘Why are you still fighting?’ Why is your manager still negotiating a fight and your 40-years-old unless you really need something?
“So, you can’t be mad at Canelo for taking care and doing what he needs to do. He’s [Canelo] been able to fight who he wants to fight, and he’s looked great doing it. Let him keep doing it because he’s been looking great if he gets past [Dmitry Bivol].
“Bivol is a big puncher and a big guy. I’ve seen Bivol fight once or twice a couple of years ago. He may be a good puncher, but he’s not that fast. Nobody cares how hard you can punch if you’re not fast enough to beat the guy,” said James about Bivol.
