He is seen by a majority of hardcore boxing fans as “The Man,” as the pack leader of all pugilists of present day. But others outside the majority, many of them are waiting with acerbic critiques at the ready to touch on all the ways the ways he's not up to par.
Expend no pity on this standard bearer of pugilism, though; does it look like Canelo gives half a darn when you see him out in the PJs and sunglasses at night?
Social media recently saw an uptick in the number of slaps and slams directed at the redhead with the 57-1-2 mark. You recall he bested Caleb Plant on Nov. 7, via a TKO11.
No, Plant did NOT come to the ring at MGM Grand in Vegas accompanied by The Bee Gees doing “Stayin’ Alive.” But he could have, because the Tennessee native focused most fully on trying not to lose.
The anti-Canelo vitriol takes some by surprise, though. A 65-70% consensus has settled on the fact that the 31-year-old Mexican is a marvelous craftsman, and now that Canelo’s gotten comfortable showing some personality, he’s No. 1 P4P, no debate needed.
His carve job on Demetrius Andrade after the eye socket scramble job on Billie Joe Saunders last May is an all-time great (“get da f--- outta heah,” “yer a horrible fighter, man, HORRIBLE,” “payyyydayyyy,” “ja ja ja I see you outside,”) all delivered not as the ever-stoic pugilist but rather the relaxed-in-his-stature pack leader.
Re-watching that one segment of WBO 160 champ Demetrius Andrade’s congratulations-bait-into- battle-visitation attempt hit different, we will get back to that later…
Chatter picked up after a Tweet by trainer/manager Eddy Reynoso: “Regarding the next fight of Canelo there is no negotiation with any promoter, or rival, or date, next week we will have something concrete,” the tutor shared on Twitter Jan 10.
And you probably saw the chatter go to a new level when a Tweet made the rounds Saturday. The Tweet dropped before "the Beast from the East” Joe Smith showed Steve Geffrard on ESPN that sparring success is still what it’s pretty much always been, a poor predictor of success after graduating to for-real rumbles.
A clip from the "ESPN Knockouts" program made the rounds, with ESPN analyst Salvador Rodriguez getting grilled by the crew. What’s next for Alvarez, they pressed him. Canelo could face Jake Paul next, that rumor ricocheted round fight town.
We asked Mr Rodriguez to explain in a bit more detail what was being discussed. "Ok, ok, I mean that one of the options for Canelo in May maybe won't satisfy the purist fans of boxing, the hardcore fans that don't accept crossovers, exhibitions and that type of event. Canelo has some strong options such as Dmitriy Bivol and Big Charlo."
Other outlets ran with it, and put one and one together to make three, teasing a Canelo vs Jake Paul tango.
"And in the video clip making the rounds, I just said to Renato and Andrés Bermúdez that Bivol and Charlo are strong options, but don’t be surprised if a third option, not for the purist fans, could be in play. No Jake Paul name on the table."
Maybe Canelo will fight a cruiserweight, as has been rumored. Yeah, plenty of purists won’t be down with that.
And some Canelo critics will say that red hair suggests “cherry red,” and that’s apt, because they insist Alvarez is a cherry picker. Those folks say, “Look at his recent record, how many Hall of Famers has he fought?”
Until the next Alvarez fight is announced, this chatter will continue. We are curious about who Canelo will fight ourselves, of course. Please feel free to tell us what you think will happen.
And answer us this: Is Canelo a Mayweather-level foe picker?
Or is that too kind— is Canelo not deserving of being anointed pack leader, because he’s a “cherry picker?” Strong run with GGG fights and rematch, followed by a Rocky Fielding gimme, Danny Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Callum Smith, Avni Yildirim, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant: not a murderers' row?
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