This Thursday, like every Thursday, I ask you to pull up a seat alongside my bulging, bulbous sack and wait for a load of gooey, salty boxing truth to be shot right into the faces of boxing’s purveyors of ignorance. This week, we have questions/comments regarding Saul Alvarez vs Billy Joe Saunders, Alvarez vs. Mayweather (prime vs. prime), and the overhyping of Andy Ruiz Jr.
Canelo vs. BJ
Hey Magno.
I got a gut feeling that Billy Joe Saunders is going to give Canelo a really tough time this Saturday. The movement and angles are going to make Canelo look flat and I don’t see Saunders as someone who’s going to be the least bit intimidated by the occasion or by Canelo. If he comes into this fight in shape, and by all accounts I hear he has, I think Canelo may be in for some real trouble. I won’t predict the upset because it’ll be damn near impossible win a decision against Canelo, but he might deserve the nod at the end of the night. What say you? Am I just engaging in wishful thinking?
– Terry
Hey Terry.
Saunders is a very good fighter, but I think he falls into that category of being another British fighter critically overhyped by the British media and fans, then accepted as truth by a lazy/incompetent American press. It’s similar to Callum Smith, who I insisted for the longest time was simply not as good as everyone was hyping him up to be. And we saw the difference in levels when he got in the ring against Canelo. In the case of Saunders, his style may be more off-putting to Canelo than Smith’s was, but he’s not as elusive or as tricky as media and fans play him up to be and he definitely can’t go toe-to-toe with Alvarez. I think Canelo will figure him out fairly early and then shut him down. Saunders’ legs and instincts might keep him from getting knocked out, but I think he goes into survival mode from round 4 or 5 on and will simply run out the clock, taking pride in lasting the full twelve. There’s also a significant possibility that Canelo gets in the pocket early against him and grinds him down by the 8th or 9th round.
Canelo vs. Mayweather: Then and Now
Hi Paul.
Saul Alvarez recently said in an interview that he’d destroy a prime Floyd Mayweather if he fought him right now and that, maybe, Mayweather would avoid him. What do you think about this and how a prime Alvarez would do against a prime Mayweather, I presume at the same 152 lb. catchweight.
– D. M.
Hey D.M.
I think it comes down to this: What Mayweather did organically, naturally, fluidly, Canelo had to LEARN to do. And, although he learned his lessons well and currently executes brilliantly, he’s not going to overcome a master of the skills he labored to master. Honestly, this whole issue is hard to address because I think Canelo only became the fighter he became because he fought Mayweather and learned some hard lessons along the way. So, a “prime” Canelo would not be as good, IMO, without first having lost to a post-prime Mayweather. That, alone, implies that Mayweather is just on a higher level. There’s also the argument that Mayweather, by the time he got to welterweight, was already slightly post-prime and that his best weight may have been between 135 and 140. So, this is a hard “what if” to address. I just feel that Mayweather is all-around the better fighter and would find a way to beat him nine out of ten times. That’s not a knock on Canelo, though. The guy has earned his elite status. But if they fought prime vs. prime, I think it plays out pretty much as it did in 2013, maybe just a bit closer.
Overhyping Andy Ruiz?
You guys in the media kill me, the way you build up Andy Ruiz. He’s a good fighter. That’s it. Good. He was a good fighter who had the night of his life against a much better fighter in Anthony Joshua who was having his worst night of his life. He caught Joshua at the perfect time. Good for him. He’s not an elite, though, and he never will be. He’s got good skills and looks better than his physical appearance says he should look, but he’s just good, not great. Even if he was great, his lack of discipline and his spotty training will always bring him down. He barely got by Chris Arreola! I know you guys want to build him up because of his back story, his Mexican descent, or whatever, but he’s a B-level fighter and always will be, until he completely eats himself out of boxing.
– Clyde Belfour
Hey Clyde.
I don’t recall ever saying or even implying that Ruiz was an “elite.” There ARE lots of media knuckleheads out there and I’m fine with you believing that I’m a knucklehead as well-- just not for this Ruiz stuff. I do believe Ruiz deserves a spot at (or near) the top of the group of heavyweights right below the big three of Fury, Joshua, and Wilder. He deserves that spot alongside guys like Dillian Whyte, Oleksandr Usyk, Luis Ortiz, and Alexander Povetkin. I don’t think that’s unreasonable at all. He has a tight skill set and good fighter instincts and, as you may or may not recall, I said it was a mistake for Anthony Joshua to be taking him on as a late replacement opponent. I do agree with you, though, that his personal flaws will ultimately be his undoing. All I’m saying when it comes to Andy Ruiz is that he’s a legitimate top 10 heavyweight and belongs in the mix of things.
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