By: Sean Crose
Canelo Alvarez has had some sort of run. Caleb Factory. Billy Joe Saunders. Callum Smith. Serge Kovalev. Daniel Jacobs. Gennady Golovkin. The man faced the opposition of a killer from 2018 to 2022 and beat every opponent before him. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind – except those who don’t like this guy for whatever reason – that Canelo is a great professional boxer, perhaps the greatest of all time. He is a powerhouse in the ring who has a collection of world titles from various divisions to support his stellar reputation. And he’s on a pretty hot streak.
Then there was the match against Dmitry Bivol last year. Canelo lost that match to a naturally larger man with a great skill set. He was gaining weight, competing for the Bivol WBA light heavyweight championship, and was knocked out. Call it too far. It happens when one dares to be great. The whole incident could have been overlooked, but Canelo’s next game – his second rematch with Golovkin last fall – raised some eyebrows. It was clear that that night Golovkin wasn’t the boxer he used to be, but Canelo looked as if he might not be the boxer he used to be either. Canelo won by decision, sure, but everyone had questions.
Those questions went unanswered last Saturday when Canelo defended his undisputed super-middleweight crown against the intrepid John Ryder. Ryder has clearly outperformed Canelo. Plus, he’s not nearly as strong as the defending champion. However, despite knocking his men down with a straight right shot, Canelo was still unable to finish the match against the Londoner. Of course, this has made people understandably question whether Canelo, while still great, is now past his prime. After all, he lost to Bivol and seemed less than excellent to Golovkin on their third pitch. However, the truth is that no one knows.
It’s worth noting that the Bivol is lightweight, not super-middleweight. Moreover, Golovkin always made it difficult for Canelo. Just because Golovkin showed obvious signs of slipping in his third game against Canelo, the same cannot be said with confidence for Canelo himself. Finally, Ryder is tough. Difficult as in TOUGH. It’s worth asking if anyone lightly underweight could finish him off in the gap last Saturday night.
However, there’s no doubt Canelo doesn’t look as dominant as fans are used to his look. Maybe he really is slipping. Or perhaps he is in a rut. Or maybe the guy was so nice that he’s now a victim of outrageous expectations. Of course, time will end the story here. However, let’s not forget that hot streak. That’s one of those things to remember.
