Canelo vs Crawford is off

I'm just keeping it real CJ. I do sense some greed behind some of the stuff Canelo says in interviews, but at the same time, he's trying to get paid as much as he can and doesn't want to dictated to about who he should be fighting by random Joe's on the street. So I get it, on the one hand, but still I don't like it when he starts demanding hundreds of millions to fight someone. I didn't like it when Floyd did it, and I don't like it when Canelo does it.

But there's a big difference, Floyd flaunted his money and made money his brand. Canelo doesn't conduct himself like Floyd did. You say he took the Floyd blueprint and just followed that, in terms of him making boatloads of money yeah, but at the same time the way Canelo fights, he fights in a more fan friendly style and he carries himself much differently than Floyd does.

See, unlike Floyd, who by the time he was Canelo's age, clearly no longer had a love for boxing and only did it to make money. And Canelo loves money too but unlike Floyd, he actually loves fighting and want to give the fans their money's worth. Maybe not in terms of opponent selection, but in terms of trying to give the fans a show.

And when you look at Canelo's story, he came from nothing. Whereas Floyd came from a boxing family who had alot of stuff handed to him coming up. Canelo came from poverty, he was fighting Professionally at 15, it's a much different journey to get to where he got. So yes he followed Floyd's blueprint to an extent, in terms of making a ton of money, but Canelo has shown a willingness to fight for different promotions and not be bitter about certain things the way Floyd has. Floyd has a "little man" complex, you know that. Canelo doesn't, Canelo is a real fighter, who doesn't just know how to put on a defensive clinic, but pressures fighters, goes for the KO, fights in a fan friendly style, even into his mid-30s, unlike Floyd who pretty much wanted to cash out by this stage in his career. Canelo is still going strong and wants to continue to fight. Canelo has carried the sport on his back in a way that Floyd hasn't. And you say he's robbing fans blind, he's not robbing us blind because he hasn't given us duds like Mayweather Pacquiao, the biggest disappointment in boxing history.

While yes you can say he ducked certain fighters like Benavidez, and all that, and I wouldn't disagree but you must admit, Canelo is a far more entertaining fighter than Floyd ever was, he's also has a much better personality than Floyd, who clearly has a zest for life and a love for boxing. Floyd never had that, Floyd is jealous of Canelo and all he's accomplished.

 

Canelo JDGAF.

 

To me it sounds like he's saying he will never ever fight Crawford for any amount of money no matter what like Crawford is some kind of boogeyman. Won't fight the best guy under his weight (Crawford) for 200 mil won't fight the best guy at his weight (Benavidez) for 200 mil won't fight Light Heavyweights yeah ok but he can fight Edgar Berlanga

 

Good. I knew before Madrimov that Canelo is too big. That’s why I didn’t want to see it. Canelo needs to challenge himself or retire. This is the sport of Boxing, not Caneloing. He can fight who he wants in retirement. Like floyd.

 

I don't think he was saying that. I think he was saying that he's focused on Berlanga right now and doesn't want to talk about Crawford fight now, which is not unreasonable at all. In fact, Crawford said a similar thing in the post fight when asked about it.

And as it pertains to Benavidez, I wanted Canelo to fight Benavidez as much as anybody, but at the same time Benavidez did move up to 175, refused to enforce the mandatory, so as much as you can say Canelo ducked Benavidez (he definitely did) at the same time Benavidez could have pinned him down and stayed at 168 and forced the fight, but he chose not to. And Benavidez was massive for 168, Benavidez really does belong at 175. He's bigger than Bivol for example who's been a Champ at 175 for a long time.

But to criticize him for fighting Berlanga, remember Berlanga is his WBA mandatory. Canelo has to fight him. But where I criticize Canelo more was him not fighting the IBF mandatory Scull, which resulted in him being stripped of the IBF. He probably could have gotten away with fighting Scull first (because the IBF is stricter) then Berlanga next year and he'd still be Undisputed. But it's not like he's making a voluntary defense against Berlanga, he is the mandatory and Mexico Puerto Rico battles historically have had done well. So we all agree that Berlanga seems like a much easier fight than Benavidez or other contenders at 168, but he is #1 ranked in the WBA so it's a guy he's required to fight. It's like when Canelo was criticized for fighting Yildirim. That was a ridiculous fight, but it was not some guy Canelo randomly chose to fight. He was the mandatory. So I agree when you criticize Berlanga as not being a great opponent, but he is the mandatory and you can't really criticize a champion for facing his mandatory. Benavidez wasn't ever his actual mandatory. He was interim and Benavidez refused to enforce the mandatory, and decided to move up to 175. So as much as we all wanted to see Canelo fight Benavidez, the facts are facts. he wasn't his mandatory, and Canelo has been fighting his mandatories. (Ryder, Munguia and now Berlanga, were all mandatories)

 

Floyd picked and chose who he fought as well.

 

Yep, and I gave him plenty of **** for it too. Still do.

 

And Sergio Martinez, Miguel Cotto, Julio Cesar Chavez and a bunch of former great or very good and accomplished fighters winded down the competition as they aged.

 

None of those guys were relevant anymore when they started that hustle. Sergio had lost to Cotto and cotto had lost to canelo. JCC never pretended his hustle was anything more than that, cause he was just giving his fans another chance to cheer for him.
Canelo holds belts. Canelo still selling that he’s the best.

 

Canelo's two opponents this year have a combined record of 65-0 with 54 KOs. Canelo at 34 years old with 65 fights under his belt fighting two undefeated 27 year olds in their prime in the same calendar year isn't really anything to scoff at. Both are mandatory challengers, we had Mexico vs Mexico and now we got Mexico vs Puerto Rico. I think fans need to do less whining and just enjoy what we have in front of us. It may not be what we asked for or what we wanted, but so what. Every Canelo fight is an event, and this will be no difference. There's a good undercard and after that press conference Canelo is going to be super motivated to knock this guy out and get his 40th KO. I'm not trying to hype this fight, but maybe just maybe this could end up being one of Canelo's more entertaining fights in recent years.

 

What's your issue with Canelo fighting two fighters this year with a combined record of 65-0 with 54 KOs? Both are mandatories for titles he holds. You say he's holding belts, what's wrong with defending them against mandatory undefeated challengers?

 

Sergio did what ?

Get the **** outta here, dude.

Martinez's last 3 years, half of which he fought injured.


Miguel Cotto 38-4 -0
Martin Murray 25-0-1
JCC jnr 46-0-1
Matthew Macklin 28-3-0
Darren Barker 23-0-0

 

My issue is that these mandatory’s are undeserving of a shot at the gold. They are only getting a shot because of politics between orgs. Everyone who understands boxing should know who the real challenges to the throne are, or at least have an idea. Tell me, who do you know who thinks berlanga is the second best super middleweight, or even 4th best? Canelo has the power to make any fight he wants and make no less than he’s making for this cherry.

 

But, let me be clear, I don’t have any complaints about his choice of opponents up to this point. And he may still fight Benavidez or some other LH, and it wouldn’t surprise me. When you’ve proven youre the best, and continue to prove it, a cherry here and there is understandable. I’m just saying IF he’s gonna pretend these guys are proving he’s still the best, I would rather he retire and let the real best current smw emerge.

 

Well Canelo needs to fight his mandatories to keep his belts.. right???