From what we saw of Artur's performance against Bivol, was there anything you saw that Canelo could exploit in a way Bivol couldn't?
I want to say that if it was peak prime Canelo against todays 39 year old Artur, maybe... possibly, could be some potential there for an interesting fight for a couple rounds. But no. Artur may not have been as imposing against Bivol, but keep in mind what Bivol had to do to negate him. He used his legs and feet in ways that I dont think Canelo can. And even if Canelo could do it for a few rounds he couldnt keep it up for long. Then factor in the size and strength. Bivol is a larger man than Canelo, and Arturs aggression and power would have a compounding effect on a smaller fighter, imo. I do think it would be interesting to see if Canelo could land some sharp power counterpunches, what effect they would have on Artur. I think if he could hurt AB then the fight changes a bit early on, but even then, Beterbiev would come on late imo. Outside of the unlikely possibility that Canelo could routinely hurt AB with counters, I dont really see a scenario that he beats AB. Imo.
Did Bivol look like he had just faced a prime George Foreman? Not at all. Now, I'm not saying Canelo would win, but he has an iron chin. Artur hits hard, but he doesn't have Foreman-level power—if he did, Bivol would have at least been knocked down.
Bivol barely got hit clean. If Bivol would have layed on the ropes against Beterbiev the way Ali did against Foreman, without getting knocked down, Bivol would have been stopped, imo. He hardly got hit clean in the entire fight. Bivol not getting knocked down has less to do with Beterbievs chin and a lot to do with Bivols defense.
Of course, Bivols defense was the main reason he was standing after but Canelo doesn't have decent defense now? I think he's fallen a fair bit offensively from his prime but I don't think his defense has dropped that much. Again, I'm mainly saying it's ridiculous to think he'd get knocked down and knocked out as easily as Frazier did against Foreman. The fight wouldn't look like that, at least not against this version of Artur.
Keep in mind, Canelo has 3 times as many fights as AB. In boxing age, Canelo is older. That may be a factor. I'd favor AB at any time. Canelo was beat by a good jab. Although AB's jab may not be as good as Bivol's he has a good powerful jab. He busts Canelo up with it.
This is starting to sound like what people said about Canelo and GGG, how Canelo had no chance to beat GGG. Then he proceeds to go undefeated against him in 3 fights. I'm not saying Canelo's gonna beat Beterbiev, but it certainly could happen, and those thinking he has no chance is actually crazy. Remember before Canelo fought Bivol, most people expected Canelo to win. Then after he loses, people act like he never had a chance against Bivol and was out of his league. It's all a bit much isn't it.
To be fair some people had the trilogy 2-1 in favor of GGG or 1-1-1. AB is everything GGG was but bigger.
Canelo could beat Beterbiev at checkers or tiddlywinks. Beterbiev would put Canelo into a ****ing pine box in the boxing ring, even at his age. Bivol did well because of his superlative foortwork that allowed him to dictate the range and because of his long straight punches. Canelo has neither. He has literally no advantage in this except his judges and his speed. Beterbiev would go to town on him and ginger simply lacks the firepower to compete. I'd hazard a guess that it would be Canelo's first stoppage loss. Let's be honest if clenboy thought that he could win he'd have made the fight long ago.