Prime GGG stops Canelo within 8 rounds

Just looking over the fight again, Canelo seemed to start to tire after 3-4 rounds.

Following that, Golovkin starts to walk Canelo along the ropes and isolates Canelo on the ropes multiple times.

In the past, in GGG's prime, those would be times when heavy shots would land and Canelo is going down and eventually going out.

Is this the best version of Canelo? He is 27 years old (fairly young), but he's already had 50+ fights in his career.

It is possible that Canelo improves between now and say, 30-32 years old. He has improved a lot in recent years.

But the version of Canelo who fought GGG on Saturday night (Prime Canelo?) would not make it past 8 rounds with Prime GGG.

GGG's most noticeable areas of decline are in his reflexes (taking more punches) and timing (missing more punches). He hasn't fallen off a cliff, but he's not the same guy he was a few years ago.

This should not come as a surprise. Although there are "outlier" fighters like Bernard Hopkins, most boxers are finished with their careers or decline noticeably after around age 32 or so. Andre Ward, for example, is not the same fighter at age 33 that he was just a few years ago.

And the great Marvin Hagler -- veteran of 67 bouts -- was finished with the sport before he turned 33 years old.

GGG can still compete at the top of the sport. But he's not the fighter that he used to be, and we have seen evidence of that over his last three bouts (the first of which took place when GGG was 34 years old).

This diminishing of GGG's skills, ironically, has made it more possible for him to get the larger fights he has long desired. But it has also emboldened his opponents in a way that would not have been possible for them several years ago.

 

I was trying to be nice to Canelo.

But you're probably right.

Once Canelo started to fade and went along the ropes, it would not take long.

Just looking over the "media scorecards" thread I made. Someone put in a tweet from Lou DiBella saying GGG has lost a step.

He has. And maybe more than 1 step.

 

No excuses from me. Just observation.

I'm not a huge fan of Ward (33 years old), but I can tell you that he's not the same fighter now that he was even a few years ago. Reflexes and timing are starting to go.

Aging is a real thing.

Many in and around the sport have said the same thing about GGG. I know Lou DiBella said the same basic thing I'm saying here on Twitter after the fight.

For example, it's not an "excuse" to say that the Muhammad Ali who fought and lost to Leon Spinks (Ali had just turned 36) was not the same Ali of his prime years. It's reality.

 

No, no, no.

Plenty of us were saying -- and have been saying for some time -- that GGG is no longer the fighter he used to be.

No one, and particularly not lower-weight fighters, is in his prime at age 35. Physically speaking. It just doesn't work that way.

There are exceptions. Hopkins is one. Calzaghe was still damn good at age 36.

But for most guys, physical prime ends at about age 32. Then the decline is on.

You can see this in different sports. LeBron James, for example, is definitely not the same athlete he used to be. And he's only 32 years old.

 

I would agree with you.

Canelo is probably about as far along as he's going to get, in terms of development/physical prime (because of how many fights he's already had).

But to be fair to him, I'm going to withhold judgement. Maybe he can still get better. We'll see.

 

Great post.

GGG landed like 8 body shots the whole night, right? And yeah, not as many over the top head shots, it seemed like.

It's sad, but we all get old. Look, I'm just happy for GGG that he's finally getting paid. At least there is that justice for him.

I think GGG is clean, but who knows? You never know these days. I don't know the guy personally.

Yeah, Canelo has never had a really great workrate. GGG's isn't supreme, but when you think of how many hard shots he throws it's up there.

Canelo, at middleweight, is always going to be the short guy having to bulk up in order to deal with the bigger guys. I do think that bulking is only going to slow him down and tire him out more, particularly as he ages.

 

Canelo does have a good chin.

However, if Cotto's brother can hurt you, then GGG can hurt you.

The issue is punches landed. If GGG hits a guy, they will be hurt. The problem for him now is because timing/reflexes are going, he misses many more punches that would have landed in his peak years. And he's taking more punches than he would have taken in his peak years.

GGG is a guy who lives to trap opponents on the ropes and then unload. He just couldn't do that with full effect on Saturday.

Some of that is Canelo's defense. But some of it is also GGG's decline.

If GGG lands a few more shots in those instances, Canelo's out.