Boxing

Keith Thurman compares Canelo Alvarez to Floyd Mayweather: ‘You could say he picked cherries but he learned from the best’


Posted on June 1, 2022

By: Hans Themistode

Canelo Alvarez is often praised for his selection of opponents. However, after making it clear that he planned to move up to cruiser class to compete against WBC belt winners Ilunga Makabu and Thabiso Mchunu, he was publicly punished.

While the news of Alvarez entering the cruiser class may come as a surprise, many in the boxing world have seen it as a strategic way to keep Alvarez away from some of the highest level of competition in or around. super average.

Most recently, Floyd Mayweather has endorsed Alvarez’s decision to move up to a much higher weight class and criticized the weight class star for weight class for his selection of opponents.

“He’s going to be a cruiser,” Mayweather told a group of reporters. “He’s fighting a guy that’s a bit up and down, but that’s it. If it’s up to me, we’d like to see [David] Benavidez. Canelo is a helluva fighter but in my personal opinion he is beating Benavidez.”

Alvarez, 31, is currently enjoying a respite after rallying for arguably the best 12 months of his Hall of Fame career. In December 2020, Alvarez made things incredibly easy when he knocked out Callum Smith to claim the super-middleweight WBA title for him. Also, in the process, Alvarez took the vacated WBC crown.

In 2021, Alvarez fired mandatory challenger Avni Yildirim, causing him to stop in the third round. From there, Alvarez went on to beat both Caleb Plant and Billy Joe Saunders for the 168-pound WBO and IBF belts.

With the world of boxing seemingly in full swing, Alvarez has found his name on the lips of a number of boxers spanning multiple weight classes. However, despite the publicity of WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol and of course, two-time former super middleweight champion David Benavidez, Alvarez chose to go down in history . If the pound-for-pound star succeeds in his new cruiser weightlifting endeavor, he will become the first Mexican boxer to win world titles in five separate weight classes.

Despite Alvarez’s pursuit of history, former welterweight champion Keith Thurman sees the jump to cruiserweight as a way to avoid facing both Benavidez and Charlo. With that said, Thurman believes Alvarez is simply following in Mayweather’s footsteps.

“Yes but so what,” Thurman said when asked if Alvarez would avoid matches with both Charlo and Benavidez for Fight Hub TV. “He is Canelo. Everyone loves him. He has a huge following. He brings a lot of excitement. You could say he picked cherries a little bit but he learned from the best. He was defeated by Floyd and now he is starting to make money like Floyd”.

During Mayweather’s career, the former 5th-ranked player was often criticized for his opponent selection, including when he beat 23-year-old Alvarez in 2013. Now, the Mexican star is in a familiar position. in terms of both fame and fortune, Thurman considers them one and the same.

However, when Thurman carefully analyzes Makabu’s login, he credits him for bringing it near the top of the cruiser food chain. More importantly, despite the outcry, Thurman wanted to remind the boxing public that even if they loudly asked Alvarez to face what they saw as harsher opposition, he wasn’t required to. do like that.

“It is still a champion. Somehow, he got there,” Thurman said on Makabu. “Are there bigger challenges for Canelo Alvarez? Most certainly. Are there fights that I really want to see? Most certainly. Are there super talented individuals that could cause him problems? Sure. Does he have to do any of that? Absolutely not.”





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