why couldnt Canelo reach fistic supremacy?

Timing was a problem. He faced May when he was too green and Bud when he was used up. Both guys hustled him and added to their legacy while diminishing his.

 

Him and the judges hustled Golovkin though, if Golovkin was prime he’d have won all 3.
Canelo was just never really at a level of a great.

 

A big part of him not being able to win the big one was he came in at the back of a respected era that ended long before he hit 30. He was sorta doomed to be in the previous generations shadow.

I think a big problem for Canelo has been people didn't get the memo about how small he is. Hes shorter then Floyd yet advanced 3 weight classes higher. Canelo is the 2nd shortest LHW champ since the first world war. When he lost to Bivol people treated it like a scandal like he was supposed to win. Then the same thing happened with Crawford people act like Canelo should be embarassed because hes a 160/168/175 champ and Crawfords a 140/147/154 but Crawfords the one whose taller and has a longer reach.

Canelo ducked Benavidez but people were acting like Benavidez is his natural peer or something. Hes over 6 inches taller. People were outright offended Canelo didn't fight Benavidez.

 

Canelo should have stayed at 160, not at 168.

 

I would say two things: 1) he is not a very big dude and he went up a lot in weight and 2) as I understand it he has always had knee problems. This affected his ability to do cardio and to cut the ring off. He's always struggled somewhat with mobile guys as opposed to guys that came to him.

 

He unified all the belts at 168lbs though

 

Did he? Can’t remember.who did he beat to do that?

 

I know, and he probably would have struggled to stay at 160, however when I compare his performances at the weight its clear that he slowed down significantly at 168. He started relying less on his upper body movement and more on his high guard he used lateral movement less too, even in his early 30s this was noticeable. Another big difference is that he started throwing a lot more naked power punches, when before he used his pressure to create counter punching opportunities and then he would counter with the same full leverage power punches.

I am a big Canelo fan, at least I used to be, and his technical decline at 168 was very noticeable. The only thing he did fix was his wide stance, after the Bivol loss. Canelo usually took rather wide steps when pressuring, and this left him open to intercepting punches. So Canelo started taking shorter steps again when moving forward. However, this wide stance habit developed at 168.
Its possible that all of the declines would have happened at 160 had he stayed there, but at least he would have fought guys closer to his own size.

I had blinders on for years when it came to Canelo, I thought that the minor adjustment to his footwork he made before the Charlo fight meant that he was still evolving and in his prime, but it was smoke and mirrors. He actually did struggle with Berlanga and Munguia, he did struggle with Scull - fights that I reasoned went the way they did because Canelo was fighting down to his opponents level. And of course he got old too.
2017 to 2022 Canelo was a fun and wild ride, with lots of controversy and some really good fights. Last 3+ years have been a massive disappointment.

 

Id argue he did reach supremacy for a period. His victory over Golovkin in the second fight cemented that legacy

 

Because he was Holding all the belts and talking and giving the impression as if he was this amazing fighter at super middle. Naturally if you have another exciting fighter at THAT same division people want to see the fight. After all canelo was pretty confident in his display.

How did he react to benavidez' challenge though?

'he has to earn it'
'i don't fight mexicans'
'i dont like him and don't want to give him a payday'

 

Cause he Mexican. Had he fed himself with crystal clear Japanese A5 wagyu he would've reached ATG top 200.

 

He had a good career. He fought a often, a lot of fights, and won the vast majority of his fights.
I think he did very well.

 

Rocky Fielding
Callum Smith
Billy Saunders
Caleb Plant

Not amazing fighters but still belt holders

 

Lead feet!