Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions say they want to fight the best in boxing, but there are a lot of fans that doubt that from the redheaded Mexican star. They see Canelo as someone that is milking the public with winnable fights against lesser opposition, and with strategic match-making designed to gain an edge over their opposition.
The fans want to see Canelo fight Gennady Golovkin, the top middleweight champion in the division. We’ve not seen that fight, and there’s been a number of excuses from Golden Boy’s part for why the fight hasn’t happened. Some boxing fans believe that Canelo and Golden Boy are waiting Golovkin out until he’s old enough to be beaten.
Canelo’s next fight is against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on May 6. You can make argument that Chavez Jr. is no better than the 10th best super middleweight in the division. Chavez Jr. is not even close to being the best in the division. If this is who Golden Boy and Canelo believe to be the best at 168, then it’s disappointing to see how hard off their judgment is.
“There have been a lot of comments directed towards me and my character. I fight for pride to represent my country. – #Canelo-ChavezJr,” said Canelo.
It looks like Canelo is a tad bit touchy about the criticism being leveled at him by the boxing public. He shouldn’t be surprised though. The fans have a certain amount of expectations from their fighters, and then they fail to live up to what the fans expect of them, then they get dumped on. In this case, the fans are sending Canelo a message that he’s not fighting the right guys.
Let’s look at Canelo’s fights since his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013:
Alfredo Angulo
Erislandy Lara
James Kirkland
Amir Khan
Miguel Cotto
Liam Smith
Those are not the best fighters. Cotto was a very good fighter during his career, but not by the time Canelo fought him. He was 36 and definitely over the hill.
Leave a Reply