Typically, when a boxer has been in the ring for a couple of decades, has had nearly 70 fights, losing only three, has won sixteen world titles in four divisions, and has reached the ripe old age, by boxing standards, of thirty-six, his future plans are normally centred on picking a Caribbean island to retire to.
Embed from Getty ImagesSaul “Canelo” Alvarez meets all of those criteria, yet instead of hanging up his gloves on a certain Hall of Fame career, he’s still in the ring winning championships. Last Saturday, he easily decisioned the Cameroon-born Christian Mbilli to add the WBC super-middleweight hardware to what must be an already gaudy shelf in his home.
Alvarez, who’s been written off more times than a bad debt, looked fantastic throughout the fight. Mbilli is no slouch, but when the clocks fell back on Saturday night, it looked like Canelo had gone with them. He hadn’t looked that good in years!
Three Losses. So What?
Now, does this mean Alvarez is back? I think that’s the wrong question because I’m not sure he ever went away; not completely, anyway. I think far too much is read into his very few losses. I mean, let’s be fair, who has he lost to? Floyd Mayweather Jr., regarded by many as the greatest boxer of all time. Terence Crawford, who, in the eyes of many, is challenging Mayweather for that distinction. And Dmitry Bivol, the light-heavyweight champion of the world and a man some four or five divisions heavier than where Alvarez began his career. If you saw that fight, it was akin to the Keebler Elf fighting the Jolly Green Giant. Good on Alvarez for trying, but he had no business being in that fight, and I refuse to hold that loss against him.
And yes, I’m aware that he beat Sergey Kovalev at light-heavyweight, but Sergey was very much on the downside of his career and never presented the sort of challenge Bivol did. Apples and oranges.
The Golovkin Question
Saul is a remarkably unpopular fighter among many fans. There are a variety of reasons for this; not all of them are his fault. Let’s start with the trilogy of fights against GGG, Gennady Golovkin. The official tally from the three stands at two wins and a draw in favour of Alvarez. But a whole lot of people felt that he lost at least one, if not two, of those fights. Some say he lost all three, but that’s ridiculous in my eyes. He won the third fight going away.
Now, I pride myself on being very fair-minded and even-handed when I write about boxers. Yes, I’m a huge Alvarez fan, but if I’m being honest, I thought he lost their first fight too. It was close, but I thought he lost. The second fight was, for me, a toss-up. It could have gone either way, and I was glad it went his. But I do understand why some feel differently.
Here’s the thing, though: so what? Bad or questionable decisions have been a part of boxing from the sport’s earliest days, and plenty of the greats have had a decision go their way that raised a number of eyebrows; Ali over Norton, Spinks over Holmes (the rematch), Louis over Walcott, among others. It’s not the fault of the fighter who got the nod, and I think it’s disingenuous to hold a questionable call against the boxer. Alvarez didn’t award himself the win and it’s not like the fight was a blowout. I can see how a case could be made for either man in their first two fights.
The Benavidez Argument
Added to this is the idea that Alvarez has been ducking the talented American, David Benavidez. I reject that criticism out of hand. Again, Benavidez is the much bigger, stronger man, who is currently plying his trade as a cruiserweight. I see little difference between Alvarez/Benavidez and Alvarez/Bivol. Canelo tried fighting the much bigger guy and it didn’t work out for him. I fail to see how he advances his career or boxing with a “rinse and repeat.”
When Winning Becomes a Problem
No, I think there’s something else at play here: human nature. I’ve seen this before with Floyd, Ali, and others. Sometimes, a boxer can be too dominant, win too much, be too good. People start to resent his success. That quickly devolves into resenting him. They get tired of seeing him win. They get tired of losing money betting against him. They get tired of the endless coverage and of hearing that he’s a multiple champion. Most of all, they get tired of him beating their favourite guy.
The phenomenon can get really ugly, too. Perspective is lost when talking about the fighter. Emotions blind judgment and rob the fan or pundit of his ability to be fair. Canelo has been written off so many times, but I think always mistakenly. Has he slowed down? I think so, but I’m not certain because he was never that fast in the first place. Have the sixty-nine fights exacted a toll on his body? I’m sure they have, but you couldn’t tell last Saturday.
Look at his record. All the gloom and doom for what? Why? He’s lost two fights in the thirteen years since Mayweather. That’s twenty-five fights, with the only two losses being against a relative giant, and arguably the best fighter to ever come along. In between those, he’s beaten multiple other world champions, won and/or defended various belts in different divisions, and put together one of the greatest careers in boxing history.
Is Canelo finished? I don’t think so; not by a long shot. Is he still relevant? You bet he is!
World In Sport Forum
Continue the discussion
Join other fans in the World In Sport Forum and debate the biggest talking points from this article.