Canelo Alvarez could face his toughest opponent yet in Terence Crawford next month, but has revealed which four opponents he rates highest ahead of the mega-fight.
Canelo Alvarez‘s career has seen something of a lull in recent years. Whilst the face of boxing continues to perform, albeit with no knockout wins since 2021, the level of opposition required to truly challenge him just hasn’t been there.
As a result, Canelo’s last six fights have been entirely uncompetitive, with the Mexican star facing an aged and faded Gennady Golovkin, an out-of-his-depth John Ryder, limited opponents in Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga, and a man who just wanted to survive in William Scull.
September 13th, then, could see Canelo face his best opponent in years. Ahead of the fight, Canelo revealed which four opponents he gives a perfect 10/10.
Canelo Alvarez picks Gennady Golovkin and Floyd Mayweather amongst his four 10/10 opponents
In a segment with The Ring magazine, Canelo was given names of his previous opponents and asked to rate them out of 10.
By the end, Canelo had revealed which four opponents he gives a perfect 10/10 score, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, they are the four men who pushed Canelo furthest.
In his 67 fights, just two men have defeated Alvarez. Floyd Mayweather did so back in 2013, and Dmitry Bivol became the second man to best Canelo nine years later.
It is no surprise, then, that both Bivol and Mayweather have been given a 10/10 score.
Gennady Golovkin shared three fights with the Mexican star, with the first two being highly competitive and controversial, as many fans believe Golovkin ought to have won one of the two bouts.
Canelo said of Golovkin, “He’s a complete fighter. Strong, and everything, good boxing IQ.”
The fourth name to get a perfect score is a man Canelo faced in 2014, two fights after the Mayweather loss – Erislandy Lara.
Canelo was almost beaten by Lara and won by a split decision. Lara gave Crawford advice ahead of his fight with Canelo, as Bud aims to snatch the Mexican’s undisputed super-middleweight titles.
Gennady Golovkin’s trainer thinks Terence Crawford is making a big mistake
As the fight gets ever-closer, Abel Sanchez, the trainer of Gennady Golovkin, has suggested Crawford could be making a huge mistake.
Sanchez spoke on the weight difference between Crawford and Canelo, though where most suggest Crawford is too small for Canelo, Sanchez believes the Omaha-native may in fact be too big.
Sanchez believes Crawford has put on too much weight, forcing him to lose his advantages in speed.
He also believes gaining so much weight in such little time will also mean he does not receive the added benefits of increased power, as his body has not had time to acclimatize to the bigger size.
Sanchez believed Crawford’s best bet would be to not gain too much, and to rely on his speed to get the win. He instead predicts Canelo will pick him apart after the early rounds.