I dont like Canelo for several reasons. But he has become a terrific fighter. However no way in hell do I see him beating Calzaghe or Jones at 168.
Pls explain to me why you think Canelo can pass fighters that spent their whole career at SMW with a few “quality wins”? This is not a conversation about if Canelo is great or not, this is a conversation if he can surpass the greats at SMW, and since he only had 3 fights so far at that weight it’s not a chance he will, unless he fights the rest of his career at SMW and fights another 15-20x at SMW.
I can dig that explanation. But it’s not Joes fault Roy stayed for only two years and shouldn’t be a knock against him. Roy could have stayed longer and his body may have betrayed him at some point. We give Hagler and Hopkins praise for their longevity at mw. I think it’s fair for Joe to get his. Ruling a division for an extended period of time isn’t a bad thing. Jumping classes to win belts and claim #division champion can become overrated. We see Broner as a 4 division champ and Tank may become one too. But who they beat to become that isn’t quite as impressive when you consider what fights they skipped over at particular weights. I’m not fond of fighters jumping to a weight class just to win a belt and never defend it. Sugar Rays light heavyweight title win isn’t impressive just as I don’t put stock into Manny’s 154 title or give much thought to Roy’s heavyweight title. If a fighter can’t defend that title against anyone, to me it’s pointless.
People act like Joe wouldn’t get down and dirtier than ward if he had to. As if he was just some random punk. I’ll never understand the Joe hate. Dude was a fighter in every sense of the word. Boxing is about winning, not this bs about hit and don’t get hit. You fight with the style that suits you and use your abilities to overcome the guy opposite you. Joe did that every time. Is he the greatest ever? No. Was his style pretty? No. But he was damn effective with how he did it.
So you don't think it's possible to build a resume in the current SMW division that could rival Ward, Jones, Calzaghe? Canelo claims he's gonna fight for another 7 years. If he stays at 168 who know what fights could be made. Benavidez Smith Saunders Charlo Andrade Plant Berlenga Munguia I don't think Canelo goes back to 175, so there's a fair chance he does stay at 168.. Since he is the money fight, he's gonna get lots of the top guys coming for their big paydays. Also he's a free agent he can make them actually happen.
How can Canelo take over Calzaghe as greatest SMW of all time since most Canelo fights took place at 154 and 160?
If he goes undisputed, and makes a ton of defenses I think he could do it ... It really depends on what fighters come up through, or move to 168. Not saying it's a forgone conclusion, in fact it's probably unlikely. But it's def possible. He's only 30 and claims he's gonna fight for another 7 years, that's alot of time.
Calzaghe casts world title aside to take on reality-TV star https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/nov/28/boxing.joecalzaghe Joe Calzaghe never was undisputed because he vacated the IBF to fight Peter Manfredo Jr. "Calslappy ducked his Mandatory." Canelo has an opportunity to be undisputed by the end of the year if he beats Billy Joe Saunders then Caleb Plant as he's scheduled to do, something Calzaghe never achieved. Doing so would also see Canelo challenging 3 Undefeated SMW World Champions in a row each in their Prime with a mandatory defense in between. Did Calzaghe beat 3 undefeated SMW World Champs to win his titles? Nope.
People rank guys by using different criteria. Many fans like me will rate people in terms of their ability on a H2H basis. Joe was a great fighter. But he doesn't have a great SMW resume. His best wins were against Kessler and Lacy. He spent the majority of his reign defending a lightly regarded title against mostly low level opposition. That's not to say that he wasn't a great fighter, because he certainly was. But to me, he was no better than guys like Roy Jones and Andre Ward just because he won more belts and had more title fights. Sven Ottke won 2 titles and defended one of his titles 20 times alongside of Joe. And he was a very good fighter. But I would never rank him as a better SMW than Roy Jones, Andre Ward and James Toney. And you'll find that despite being the 2nd most accomplished SMW of all time, that Ottke doesn't make most people's top 5 SMW's. The point is, although Canelo has a lot of work to do, he doesn't necessarily have to make the same number of defences as Joe in order to be classed as being the GOAT or on the same level. Roy Jones and James Toney only stayed there for a few years. If Canelo has another 5/6 quality wins where he can obtain all of the belts, he'll certainly be up there, where many people will consider him as being one of the greatest SMW's of all time. Again, he's got a lot to do and there's lots of 'ifs' at the moment. But further wins over the likes BJS, Plant, Benavidez and possibly guys like Bivol etc, will put him up there alongside Joe.
