By: Henry Deleon
Canelo Alvarez, one of Mexico’s biggest names in boxing, has gained a lot of praise and just as much criticism throughout his career. Many believe him to be P4P the best fighter in the world, while others find him to be a hype job. Like him or not, you have to give him credit for what he has accomplished in the sport of boxing.
Despite only being 29 years old, Canelo Alvarez has had a total of 55 fights, 52 of them wins (35 by K.O), 1 loss to who may have been arguably the best boxer of our era Floyd Mayweather and 2 draws one of which was someone many considered at some point the “boogey man” of the middleweight division Gennadiy Golovkin.
Photo Credit: Henry Deleon
Canelo Alvarez has proven to the world over and over again that he does indeed belong at the pinnacle of the sport. Putting aside whatever emotional feelings you may feel towards the guy, Canelo continues to show countless improvements as an overall fighter each and every time he steps into that ring.
With the exclusion of Manny Pacquiao, Canelo, arguably, has one of the best resumes of all active fighters today. Canelo has faced many top opposition, from Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Danny Jacobs, and GGG twice. Whether you agree that he won these fights or not, you can’t deny the fact that he has proven to be a more improved fighter each and every time. Whether it’s his power, his defense, his ring generalship, punching combinations, his counter punches, Canelo continues to show us a more well-rounded fighter through every new challenge he takes on.
In his two fights with GGG alone, Canelo showed that he was able to box and brawl. He proved to the world that he can take a punch just as much as he can give them. He did what no other person was able to do at that time and that was go blow for blow with GGG.
In the Danny Jacobs fight, Canelo completely dominated and displayed a beautiful performance against another world class fighter. He showcased a series of beautiful counter punching, great timing and outstanding defense, completely outclassing Daniel Jacobs in that fight.
Later, Alvarez moved up a weight class in search of another world title at a different division to face Rocky Fielding. Now many wouldn’t have considered Rocky Fielding to have been much of a threat, but in boxing, there are weight classes for a reason. To move into someone else’s weight class as the smaller guy and completely obliterate them with beautiful body shots, you have to take a moment to recognize Canelo’s skill in this sport.
Many feel that Canelo should be testing himself at the middleweight division with fighters like the Charlo brothers, Demetrius Andrade or even a 3rd fight with GGG but the truth is none of these guys would be able to beat him. Canelo instead is taking on another risk, this time by moving up two weight classes into the light heavy weight division (178 lb.) to face another top fighter Sergey Kovalav. For that reason, it’s hard to say that he is trying to avoid any of these guys at 154 or 160 because if he was, he would probably be fighting guys who wouldn’t poses a threat at all. The truth of the matter is he’s taking on a much bigger threat by moving up to the light heavy weight division and challenging the WBO champion, the heavy hitting Kovalav.
Kovalav is a devastating power puncher with 34 wins, 29 of them by K.O. Canelo will be entering Kovalav’s weight division in where Sergey has fought at his entire career, in where Sergey feels most comfortable and is ranked as one of the top fighters at that division. This isn’t another “Rocky Fielding” Canelo will be fighting. This isn’t a tune up fight with a guy who is ranked 69 or 74 (according to boxrec.com) like Tyrone Spong or Chazz Witherspoon was for Oleksandr Usyk’s Heavyweight debut. This is a fighter in the top 3 at his division with devastating power. Alvarez may possibly be biting off more than he can chew with this fight, but none the less he is “bitting” and attempting to establish his legacy by taking on a challenge like this.
Canelo at 29 years old is a future hall of famer. He’s seeking to establish his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of our time. Fan or not, you have to acknowledge Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and give him credit on this chase for greatness.
Canelo Vs. Kovalav will be taking place on November 2nd live at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. You can also watch it live on DAZN.
