BEVERLY HILLS – Are we witnessing the final stage of a great career?
Undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez bounced back from his stunning loss to Dmitry Bivol by outpointing Gennadiy Golovkin last September in their third fight and John Ryder in May, which set up his pay-per-view defense against Jermell Charlo on Sept. 30 in Las Vegas.
The problem for the Mexican star is that he looked slow, sluggish, nothing like the dominating fighter who went undefeated for a decade against top-flight opposition.
Thus, many have come to the conclusion that the future Hall of Famer has begun to decline after 18 years as a professional even though he’s only 33 years old, two years younger than Terence Crawford.
If that’s the case, he could be in trouble. Charlo is moving up two weight classes to face him but the 154-pound champ is a complete, seasoned fighter with elite punching power and a nasty streak.
Yes, this might be Alvarez’s last hurrah.
Of course, he suggested emphatically at both the New York and Los Angeles news conferences to kickoff the promotion for the event that we shouldn’t jump the gun.
He acknowledges that he was far from his best against Golovkin and Ryder but insists he’ll look a lot more like the old Canelo when he tangles with his undisputed counterpart at T-Mobile Arena in about six weeks.
“We’ll see if it’s true that I’ve lost a step,” Alvarez said Wednesday at The Beverly Hilton hotel. “We’ll see. I understand what the people said and I agree. I didn’t look my best in my last two fights, but I know why and I’m ready for this fight.
“We’ll see what happens. We’re going to see something different.”
Why did Alvarez look so-so? It could be decline, it could be other factors.
Alvarez, a right-hander, fought both Triple-G and Ryder with an injured left wrist. He had surgery to repair the damage shortly after the latter fight and reportedly is now 100% healthy, which should serve him well against Charlo.
And it’s reasonable to ask whether Alvarez was properly motivated for the Golovkin and Ryder fights.
He resisted taking a third fight with Triple-G because he saw their rivalry as finished business after a draw and a victory. And Ryder is the type of non-descript opponent for whom it can be difficult to generate passion, which might be why it looked as if Alvarez was going through the motions against the Londoner.
Motivation shouldn’t be an issue for the Charlo fight.
One, the fight couldn’t be more important for his career. If he loses, he could be finished as one of the top figures in the sport. Two, he is well aware that Charlo is genuine threat to him. That’s why he said, “This is a different fight. And I’m focused on it.”
And, three, he suddenly has an army of critics who have begun to count him out. Everyone wants to prove their doubters wrong.
A healthy version of Alvarez. Plenty of incentive. It’s no wonder that he spoke with his old bravado when he described what he intended to bring into the ring for his biggest fight in years.
“I always say that outside of the ring, I look like I’m an easy opponent,” he said. “But when fighters step in the ring with me, it’s completely different. It’s not the same watching me from outside the ring as it is actually being inside the ring with me. I’m a different guy.”
We’ll see whether that’s good enough against Charlo.
