Oh so we're no longer playing the "but Canelo was a poor defenseless little baby greenhorn then" card? Good.
Can you think of a better win from an American? There probably is. Do you believe Canelo was in his prime, fought at his prime weight, and was as mature and experienced as he is now?
More so than any of that stuff applied to Floyd, yes. (the in prime and fighting at prime weight part, obviously, not the maturity and experience)
Clearly Ward over Kovalev. I mean Kovalev was a class above Canelo. I dont know how that could possibly be overlooked.
I actually don't think I disagree with you, but you are going to be courting some controversy with that. I'm sure many people will balk at saying Krusher > Álvarez, p4p..
Well I'd say that Canelo is currently operating at let's say an A- grade level. So it would be a massive victory for Jacob's. When Mayweather fought Canelo he was more B or B+ grade level. And Kovalev was A grade level, maybe not quite A+ due to his conditioning woes, but still better p4p than Canelo, especially the younger version of Canelo.
Interesting discussion you brought up and made me think who is the last fighter to defeat an A+ level fighter, American or otherwise. Was it Ward over Kovalev? Many will say that Kovalev was an A + fighter but I'd say he was more A grade due to stamina issues. Some will say that Kovalev unofficially beat Ward in the first fight and that Ward was A+ level. If Kova had gotten the official nod I'd give it to him as the last to beat an A+ guy. Canelo officially beat Golovkin, but he was always just A level and by the time Canelo fought him he had slipped to A-. There been some big wins in recent years. Pacquiao beat Cotto, but he wasn't A+ level. Rigo over Donaire, great win, but Donaire not A+ and also more dominant at lower weights. Martinez over Williams. Paul was more A- level. I could name others, but no super elites operating at A+ taking a loss in recent years. Besides Wards unofficial "loss" if you must. What about Pacquiao over Marquez II? Seems like a solid choice, but at 34 if you rewatch the first two fights closely Marquez looks slightly slower and less sharp than he was in the first fight 4 years younger. Looked he went from A+ to A level with the passing years. Not to mention the fight card itself was controversial. So then we go back to 2005 and see Morales UD Pacquiao. Who was an obvious A+ level talent. And Morales won a solid, non controversial decision over an A+ level fighter. Goes to show it doesn't seem to happen very often. Any win over a fighter B+ grade or higher is pretty rare and significant.
at the end of day its his fault for taking a ATG bout, if he thought he was still green he shouldda waited. It is his inadequacy as a fighter for accepting it early if he did.
Beating an opponent as formidable as cancer is mightily impressive but trust me Clenelo's judges ain't no slouches.
