By Sean Jones: Eddie Hearn is adamant that Canelo Alvarez isn’t showing signs of slippage in his last two fights since capturing the undisputed championship in 2021.
On social media, boxing fans have noted that Canelo (58-2-2, 39 KOs) has looked like he’s lost a couple of steps since his fight with WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and then looked almost as bad in his recent trilogy match against 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin last September.
Hearn states that Canelo had a left hand injury in his last two fights, but that doesn’t explain why he gassed out after six rounds in both contests against Bivol and GGG.
The only reason Canelo won the trilogy match against Golovkin is due to his slow start. If Golovkin had started fighting hard earlier in the contest, he would have beaten Canelo, and he’d now be facing oblivion.
Canelo has a lot to prove
2023 will be an important year for Canelo because he’s got to show something to prove that he’s not the faded fighter that many fans think he is.
He’s supposed to be fighting British fighter John Ryder in May, which is basically a gimme to build his confidence. But with the way Canelo has looked lately, Ryder could give him a lot of trouble, and he might even beat him.
Assuming Canelo finds a way to defeat Ryder, he’ll then face Dmitry Bivol in a rematch in September, either at 168 or 175. That fight has the makings of a mismatch in favor of Bivol because he’s all wrong for Canelo style-wise and in terms of his vastly superior boxing skills.
“He’s been fighting with an injury for the last couple of fights,” Eddie Hearn said to the media last Saturday night about Canelo Alvarez when told that the Mexican star has shown signs of slipping in the last two fights.
Canelo didn’t have a hand injury during his fight with Caleb Plant in November 2021, and he looked very beatable in that contest. If Plant hadn’t gassed out after nine rounds, he would have boxed his way to a 12 round decision because he was giving Canelo pure trouble up until the ninth.
Hearn denies Canelo is slipping
“I don’t think he’s been at his best, but look at his fight. He fought Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant, Dmitry Bivol, and Gennadiy Golovkin,” said Hearn. “That’s who he’s fought. People say, ‘Oh, he’s slipping a little bit.’
“He’s fought the very best of the best, and he was carrying an injury as well,” said Hearn, repeating the injury excuse.
It doesn’t work for Hearn to blame Canelo’s high-caliber opposition for why he’s not looked good because boxing fans expect him to fight the best.
They don’t want to see Canelo returning to the weak position that he’d been padding his record against in the last five years against the likes of Avni Yildirim, Rocky Fielding, Billy Joe Saunders, Daniel Jacobs, and a shot Sergey Kovalev.
Fans want to see Canelo fight the best, which means he’s expected to face these killers:
- David Benavidez
- Dmitry Bivol
- David Morrell
- Artur Beterbiev
