By Craig Daly: Canelo Alvarez’s habit of playing a round of golf after each training session is hurting his performances inside the ring, says Bob Arum.
Arum still feels that Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) is in his prime despite his loss to Dmitry Bivol and his lackluster win over Gennadiy Golovkin last Saturday night.
Canelo looked faded in both of those fights, and it’s difficult to imagine that version of him beating David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, or Bivol. Rather than seeing it as a sign of age & ring wear creeping in, Arum is blaming it on golf.
“GGG has a lot of boxing ability, so he’s still an elite fighter,” said bob Arum to Fighthype. “40 for a boxer, particularly for the middleweight division, is a big number. Has his skills eroded? I think the answer is yes.
“He’s used to making so much money that it would be difficult to get him in the ring with a normal middleweight who doesn’t command that kind of purse.
“I think Janibek is a tremendous, tremendous fighter. I look at it objectively since he’s come up from Kazahstan. He had a couple of fights there. All of his fights have been with us. I think he’s an enormous talent.
“I really and truly don’t see GGG going in the ring with Janibek. If you ask me why, because the money won’t be up to GGG’s standards. Janibek is a better fighter at this point.
“I would think [Jermall] Charlo wins that fight [against Golovkin] at this point. I don’t think Charlo would be competitive with GGG at GGG’s best, but GGG’s best has long since passed. So, I would pick Charlo to win that fight.
“I think the problem with Canelo is you can’t engage in a major fight and play a round of golf every day after you finish training. That kills your legs and everything.
“Canelo, who is a lovely guy. I really like him personally, but he just loves to play golf. That takes away, I think, from his performance. I don’t think so,” said Arum when asked if Canelo moving up and down from different divisions has hurt his performances.
“From 160 to 168, as long as he demonstrates. I don’t think he can make 160 anymore. He can go from 168 to 175, but not if he’s playing golf when he’s training,” said Arum.
