Canelo does not have to look at light-heavyweight

I am not revealing anything new. You know it as well as I do. In fact, I can assure you that almost everyone is aware that Canelo Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KO’s) has long since lost his reputation.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s entitled to it. He works hard enough in the gym for it. And that’s unquestionable.

But all extremes are usually hateful. It has transpired that the undisputed face of professional boxing is likely to campaign at 175 pounds after cornering all four belts at super middleweight (168 pounds).

“We have every intention of coming to fight in Guadalajara in February. It would be to defend (the 168-pound titles) or maybe look for a fight at 175,” acknowledged Eddy Reynoso a few days ago. “(At 175) there is (Artur) Beterbiev (16-0-0, 16 KO’s), there is (Dmitry) Bivol (18-0-0, 11 KO’s), after we win in September, if we get the fight with Caleb Plant (21-0-0, 12 KO’s) and we unify, we will look for both at 175 pounds”, stressed the trainer.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to establish a timetable for the immediate future. But not even the Mexican has unified at 168 pounds and already the Canelo-Reynoso pairing is thinking about moving up to a division where he apparently has little or nothing to do.

I know, I know. I haven’t lost my mind. I know that Canelo, on September 13, 2019, knocked out Russian Sergey Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KO’s) in the light heavyweight division and took the World Boxing Organization (WBO) belt from him.

Although he defeated the “bogeyman” of the division, we all know under what conditions he did it. Kovalev took it upon himself to tell us.

Already his triumphant stay at 168 pounds has been questioned because of the Mexican’s apparent physical disadvantage. Let’s be benevolent and assume that Canelo is a super gifted fighter and did not condition in the negotiations the champions he swept at that weight: Rocky Fielding, Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders. And, furthermore, that these are not a bunch of lumps.

But what scenario will he encounter at 175 pounds? Well, in all cases the size, reach and weight disadvantage will be compounded. To his credit he will have the option to pick his schedule and impose whatever clause – including rehydration – he feels like. At the end of the day, he will start as a challenger, however, the one who generates the ticket is him and no one else but him.

Reynoso said about this: “they are really complicated challenges, Canelo comes from the super welter and is fighting taller and stronger fighters at 175 pounds, but these are the challenges we like to take on”.

I reiterate, under normal conditions, Canelo has nothing to look for at 175 pounds. The light heavyweight champions are too big guys, all between 5’11½ and 6 feet (1.82-1.83 meters), and a scary punch. Canelo is no bigger than 5’8 (1.73 meters).

However, the Mexican will find a way to take advantage, or at least even the odds, without even stepping into the ring, not for the first or last time.

Either way, I don’t see him making an acclimatization fight. His No. 1-ranked status pound-for-pound forces him to go against the champions of the four major sanctioning bodies – Beterbiev, monarch of the World Boxing Council and the International Boxing Federation; Bivol, king in the World Boxing Association; and Joe Smith Jr. (27-3-0, 21 KO’s), WBO champion.

Let no one be surprised if he starts against the one he considers the least strong and starts to unravel the daisy.

If each of the champions assume the attitude of Sergey Kovalev, we will not be seeing anything special. Simply a fighter assuring the life of three and four generations; depressing spectacles and arrobas of questioning.

And if you ask me which fight I’d like to see, Canelo vs. Andre Ward (32-0-0, 16 KO’s). The American is retired, but at 37 years old it wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable for him to come back for a big payday against a smaller, less skilled guy in the ring. Maybe Ward will emulate Floyd and go for easy money against Canelo.