Canelo Alvarez – Gennady Golovkin: A Different Spin on a “Super Fight”

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By Andrew “Drew The Picture” Hames

Stir up any pot of opinions in a boxing forum, season it with diverse public dialogue, and watch the tempers boil over with ensuing controversy…. That seems to be the most effective social media cooking recipe for building up anticipation for any mega-fight these days, and the hopeful showdown between Middleweight champions Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin is marinating in equal measures. The problem here is that this pot also seems to be badly spoiled by a bad batch of media spin emanating from its broth, and it seems that any witch with a reliable spell that could offset it is off duty at the moment.

For those reasons, I felt the need to address the controversy stemming from the widespread belief that Canelo should forego his weight requirements in light of obliging “GGG” at 160, in light of certain items that seem to be absent or missing from the bubbling pot.

While “GGG” is the more celebrated of the two fighters at the current moment, perception and reality end up being distant relatives, and there are alternative arguments that largely favor Canelo here being downplayed, or perhaps merely going unnoticed. For instance, Canelo is the actual A-side fighter, and realistically has the far superior resume of opposition as a pro fighter. And while it’s believed that he should be willing to defend his Middleweight title at the proper weight, it’s worth mentioning from Canelo’s vantage point that he just won the 160-pound title in his last fight, which was contracted at 155. In fact, the last three lineal titleholders at 160 (Canelo, Cotto and Sergio Martinez) we’re all blown-up junior middleweight champions being groomed for “GGG” to hopefully feast on.

And while Canelo clearly could be a middleweight by natural size, he’s never actually weighed 160 on the scales, or even faced a full-fledged middleweight yet to even determine how he’d handle the weight change. Moving up in weight can be a detrimental process when done prematurely. Ask Roy Jones, JR., or even Adrien Broner how much of a difference weight classes make. And “GGG” would likely be coming into the ring more along the lines of 175-180 after re-hydration. Perhaps it would serve Canelo right for his own drastic re-hydrations in the past, having come in the ring as high as 172 and 165 for consecutive junior middleweight fights, but it still calls for reasonable concerns.

Beyond these factors, if we’re being completely honest, Canelo proved by fighting then unbeaten WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (with his Mayweather, JR. Sweepstakes ticket hanging in the balance, mind you), and later taking a fight with Erislandy Lara (who “GGG’S” camp ignored even after Lara offered to move up to 160 for the bout) after establishing himself as a PPV attraction that he’s not nearly as protected by his promoter Oscar De La Hoya nearly as much as reports would lead us to believe. In fact, Canelo’s popularity has largely grown from his willingness to take risks. Something seems unfair about the public advocating for him to move up and take even further risks to prove his credentials, as opposed to an opponent in “GGG” who ultimately has yet to face his first A-level opponent, or take any unwarranted risks of any kind.

Canelo’s critics will argue his perceived flaws in the ring, such as the inability to cut the ring off, as opposed to “GGG’S” footwork being praised for exceptional ring-cutting abilities. It can just as reasonably be contended that Canelo’s footwork was made to look bad against Floyd and Lara, two fighters who are levels above anything we’ve seen “GGG” ever have to cut the ring off against on the first place. Perhaps if “GGG” were to face someone with such a defensive repertoire like an Andre Ward or an Erislandy Lara, we could make a fairer assessment of how well he cuts off the ring against a world class elusive fighter in comparison. More so, Canelo seemed to deal with Miguel Cotto and Freddie Roach’s game plan of footwork rather well in his last outing. Perhaps he’s improved in that department as a growing young fighter. And it’s not as if “GGG” dances around much on the outside for cutting off the ring to even be a major factor in their fight…

This isn’t so much a knock on “GGG”, or an apologist argument for Canelo, so much as it is an objective attempt to encourage fight fans to examine these stories in their entirety instead of following media reports. Examine the full contents of a package before signing off on it.

Signing off till next time…

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