By Brian Webber: Canelo Alvarez leaves no stone unturned in his final weeks of preparation for his fight against Jermell Charlo on September 30. Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) will defend his undisputed super middleweight championship.
Canelo’s last three lackluster performances have made it necessary for him to change how he trains, using high-altitude training and working on his cardio, speed & defense.
Alvarez got hit too many times in his fights against John Ryder, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Dmitry Bivol.
He can’t let that happen against Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) because he’s got the youth, combination punching, power, and killer instinct to go for the knockout.
The oddsmakers have the 33-year-old Canelo as the favorite, but that doesn’t matter. He was the favorite against Bivol and was dominated by him in a one-sided loss last year.
Advantages for Canelo
- Experience: Alvarez has fought far better opposition during his career than Jermell. This will be the first fight for Jermell at 168, which puts him at a disadvantage.
- Size: Although Canelo is shorter than Jermell, he’s wider and more powerful.
- Power: This is an area where it’s just a slight advantage for Caneelo because Jermell can punch as well. Butt the counter-punching that Caneelo does makes his power even better because his opponents don’t see his shots coming a lot of time, making him more dangerous.
- Defense: This is a big advantage for Canelo, who is almost impossible to hit cleanly, and Jermell will have trouble trying to land.
Canelo will be ready for Jermell
“Looking at some of the things that Charlo has been doing over the years. He’s a vet; he’s seen everything,” said Calvin Ford during Wednesday’s virtual media roundtable. “He’s got years.
“Is Canelo worried about is he going to do anything? He’s going to be Canelo. This is a big fight right here. Charlo knows it’s a big fight. Like I said. I like the position of where he’s at.
“Canelo just has to focus on what he has to do because Charlo might change some things up for what he sees that other fighters weren’t doing against him.
“Sometimes in the camp, you have been in the same situation for so many years; it’s just the same thing. It’s like when a person goes to work. They go to the same job all the time. They get bored with the job.
“For him making that change, that’s major. He’s really taking this fight seriously,” said Ford about Canelo. “You talk about the injury he had in his previous fight. He got past all that.
“We’re going to see Canelo in his prime. We’re going to see a Canelo really putting that work in because he knows what he’s got standing in front of him. So, it’s major that they did some changes.
“When a trainer has a loss, he has something to prove because this is like the Super Bowl. This is a major fight based on which athlete is going to go out there and perform the way that they’re supposed to form in camp,” said Ford.
