You know a fighter has star power when, literally, every piece of mail you receive following a big fight is about him. Canelo is that star and, so, the focus of this week’s gander at the contents of my bulbous, bloated sack. Enjoy this touch of cinnamon with my gooey, salty truth.
Pundits Gonna Pundit
What a difference a year makes! It seems 12 months ago the boxing media pundits were touting Lomachenko as #1 P4P. It's clearly obvious without reservation that Canelo is P4P the best. Not that I didn't know that before, but it appears to be a general consensus. Canelo did exactly what I knew he would do to Billy Joe. A lot of pundits and fans are finally giving Canelo credit. As if defeating Billy Joe was a legacy defining fight. Billy Joe was 2 notches better than Canelo's last opponent and a notch better than Callum Smith.
What did Billy Joe do to earn this type of respect from the American boxing media? This fight was not career defining. Canelo did what he had to do against a UK hype job. Plant, Benavidez, Charlo, and Andrade would whip Billy Joe's ass as well. Who has Billy Joe beaten? There was nothing on Billy Joe's record that indicated he was a credible challenge to Canelo.
Hats off to Canelo, for cracking his eye socket. That was a classic punch that only a chosen few can land. However, there's also people giving Billy Joe a moral victory. Claiming that Billy Joe was winning the fight up until the point he got cracked.
I don't get it! Billy Joe was losing on my card 5 rounds to 3 when the stoppage occurred. I don't understand the unofficial scoring taking place these days. It's a bad look for the sport and it feeds into the narrative that boxing is rigged in favor of a chosen few. How did you have the fight scored up until the stoppage? Do you think Billy Joe was given too much undeserved credit?
-- Nail Rahman
Hey Nail.
The answer to most things related to the boxing media is a simple one-- most of these guys don’t know shit about boxing and drift along riding hype sent to them by publicists or buying into stuff they hear from other members of the media.
I said it before the Saunders fight. Billy Joe was overrated and not at all what he was made out to be. He had been mega-hyped with little more than disputed decisions over Andy Lee and a green Chris Eubank Jr. (six and seven years ago, respectively) under his belt and a “master boxing” performance against a bloated and sluggish David Lemieux, who looked to have spent training camp indulging in poutine and groupie blow jobs.
He was a GOOD fighter with the potential to deliver very good performances on the right night and also the propensity to deliver uneven outings. He was very good at the regional Euro level. That’s it.
That’s not a knock on him and it doesn’t diminish Canelo’s win (Canelo can only beat those deemed as the best-- or as world champs-- at the time). That’s just reality.
And all of this fictitious scoring and “he was coming on” nonsense is just the blowhard pundits trying to work their fantasy into the reality of what we all saw. I had Canelo up 7 rounds to 1 and could maybe be talked into 6-2. Anything beyond this is bizarre. And those who saw it as even or had BJS ahead, well, they’re either fucking stupid or nuttier than a squirrel turd.
I live in Mexico, so I wasn’t privy to the DAZN English feed. I’m just finding out that Chris Mannix, the streaming service’s official scorer, had Saunders up 5 rounds to 3 at the time of stoppage, which he still refuses to recognize as a “quit.” All I can think of is that maybe too much hairspray got him a bit loopy...or maybe the general awfulness that is the DAZN broadcast crew has rubbed off on him. If he really believes that score he issued, maybe it’s time to give the scoring pad and paper to another person.
Ultimately, Canelo did what an elite fighter is supposed to do to a pretender and no re-working of reality or re-writing of history can change that.
Speak English! (?)
Why doesn’t Canelo Alvarez learn to speak English? It looks ridiculous that the best boxer in the world needs to speak thorough an interpreter at the end of a PPV or during promotions. He’s never going to be a mainstream star like Mayweather, Leonard, Hagler or Hearns until he does.
-- David O’Leary
Canelo knows more English than he lets on, but is probably reluctant to look awkward speaking broken English in public. I don’t think his lack of English hurts him one bit in the present tense boxing scene, though. Given the realities of the sport and its place in the mainstream these days, I don’t think he could get much bigger than he is right now. The days of boxers being household names and mainstream icons is long gone. One could argue that mainstream breakthrough of fighters is only happening in the Spanish-speaking world, anyway. Face it, the American non-Latino fan is no longer alone at the top of the boxing fandom totem pole. Canelo doesn’t have to speak English proficiently to be a mega-star in the boxing world. It would be nice if he did speak English well-- as it would be nice if everyone spoke a second language-- but I think the only ones holding it against him that he doesn’t are those who probably wouldn’t be fans in the first place.
What About Caleb Plant?
Hi Paul.
It looks like Caleb Plant is going to be next for Canelo. Does he have any more of a chance than BJS and Callum Smith had? My guts and eyes tell me no way. If you ask me, Mr. Plant’s got a beating coming. Is there something that Plant has that may make an upset possible or at least make for a more competitive fight?
– Damon
Hey Damon.
When it comes to level of inherent talent and accomplishment, Plant belongs in the same tier as Smith and Saunders. But I believe there’s something a bit more complex, more complete in Plant. He’s got more old school skill to him than any of Canelo’s last few opponents and it could be argued that Plant will be the most skilled opponent he’s faced since Miguel Cotto. The IBF champ does a lot of little tricky things in the ring that escape the attention of most fans. He works angles well, changes tempo effectively, and is really fluid with his combinations. Can he withstand Canelo’s power game, though? Does he have the legs to play defense against Canelo for an extended period of time? Does he have the pop to keep Canelo from walking him down? These are all big questions that will be answered when the two finally meet. I do think Plant is a better fighter than both Smith and Saunders and people are wrong to be sleeping on him and his chances, but a lot-- like, almost everything-- will have to go his way if he has a chance of beating Canelo right now.
Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.