Has Canelo Lost His Edge? Ryan Garcia Says Alvarez Lacks the Intensity of His Prime

Ryan Garcia says Canelo Alvarez lacks the “energy and intensity” that he once had when he was younger. He believes that he’s lost that part of his game and isn’t fighting at the level he did when he knocked out Caleb Plant in 2021.

Garcia is still picking Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) to defeat Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) this Saturday night on September 13th. In an interview in Cigar Talk, Ryan said that Crawford’s shots won’t have any effect on Canelo, who will walk through them and will keep coming forward.

Alvarez’s Diminished Energy

“Does he have the same energy and intensity that he used to have when he was younger, or even when he fought Caleb Plant. That was his last great performance. Is he going to have that second and third effort?” said Ryan Garcia to Ring Magazine on X.

Ryan may be too young to remember how Alvarez looked earlier in his career between 2005 and 2016. But even back then, he had stamina and intensity issues. Canelo only fought in spurts and would gas out in the second half of his fights.

It’s a problem that was there from the start, but again, Garcia may not have been following Canelo’s career back because he was only 7 years old when he first started fighting in 2005.

Canelo’s KO Power Is Undiminished

Canelo may not have the same energy, but his power still looks as good as always. As far as I can tell, there’s no drop off at all, period, in his punching power. The shots that he dropped on Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga in 2024 would likely knock out Crawford because he’s not been hit like that before.

Crawford had problems with the punches that Israil Madrimov was hitting him with in 2024, and he wasn’t loading up. Madrimov was just reaching out with quick, snapping right hands that were whiplashing Crawford’s head repeatedly throughout the fight.

Crawford, 37, has pressure on him to entertain, as this was Turki Alalshikh’s idea to use him as Canelo’s opponent over more action-oriented fighters from the 168 and 175 weight classes, who are more proven entertainers. Indeed, Christian Mbilli, who is fighting on the undercard, would have been a better fit for an exciting fight to impress the large Netflix audience.