it was obvious old spice was fighting scared,how many times did he step in with his punches,must say he never lived up to his hype coming through with naz .
I think some people are being a bit harsh on Rhodes. The guy simply failed to live up to the hype that's been poured on him over the years, especially on this forum. Ryan couldn't match Alvarez in any way whatsoever, and was fighting away from home (for the 1st time I believe?)and with a hostile crowed agaianst him. Every time he tried to get his punches off he got punished severely, and whenever he landed a decent shot it had no effect whatsoever. He couldn't even outbox the guy at range. Ryan was way out of his depth and had no real chance of pulling off an upset, yet stuck at it till the very end, bravely absorbing a lot of big punches on the way. He's been accused of not applying himself enouigh during the fight, but surely if he had anything left going into the final round he would have survived until the end? I think Rhodes did the best he could, it wasn't good enough but wasn't as bad as Lockett v Pavlik.
i think he just sickened rhodes early on. i think alvarez is one of thoe boxers who's every punch is hard,no pitter patter punching. he is'nt even loading up on shots,just arm punching,when he did load up proper,he really hurt rhodes. i welll underestimated him,ive seen him a few times,but on sunday he really impressed me .:good anyone out there who have sparred or boxed with people with natural power will know what im on about,it ****ing well hurts:ko
that was possible the worst performance by a fighter in a big fight. lockett was delighted to take a knee when the going got tough and get out of the contest
I think Lockett got absolutely twatted compared to Michael Jennings v Cotto. Jennings took what in that fight? And Jennings was hardly being humble before the fight, just like Lockett. I wasn't a Lockett fan but at least he kept getting up. It's become a legend on this place that that was a disgraceful performance but he got ****ed up more than Rhodes, more than Jennings, more than Mitchell etc etc. He also planted his feet and fired a few back, got punished for it appropriately of course. Regards, GLDF (Gary Lockett Defense Force).
Rhodes is a better fighter than what he showed against Alvarez, I just think he froze a little on the night. My take was.... Rhodes didn't seem to believe in himself enough. You could tell Rhodes was reluctant to let it all hang out, so he got caught in two minds, which reduced him to waiting too long, thinking too much. Rhodes couldn't, or wouldn't pull the trigger when Alvarez got close to him, and he wouldn't press him when he backed Alvarez up. If you watch, when Alvarez came foward, he'd step up to the pocket, try to get Rhodes to throw something out there so he could slip inside it, or counter over it, and given that Rhodes pushes the jab, commits to it too much, he was able to do that, what Rhodes should of done in this situation, was not been so tentative and put things out there that have counter me written all over them, he should of made his mind up and threw with conviction, then used his speed to get off first, cause whilst Alvarez was stepping up to mid range, he rarely moved his head (and so was there, in range to be hit), he only tended to move his head when he was trying to slip to set up a counter. When Rhodes backed Alvarez up, he should of being putting the pressure on, but because he was fighting so apprehensively, he refused to press the gap and keep pressing, cause he was fearful of the counter, so he would step up like he was gonna press Alvarez, but then leave just enough space for himself to counter punch any potential attacks by Alvarez, he would essentially slip into his counter punchers mentality instead of pressing the fight, leaving that little space between himself and the opponent and not pressing it enough, which gave Alvarez just enough time to move and fight at the pace he was comfortable with.
He felt the power and didn't want to go out on his shield. Too many boxers would rather lose a decision then get stopped and dare to be great. Remember Malignaggi bitching about not wanting to a stoppage loss on his record vs Hatton when at the same time its not like he was doing anything to change the flow of the fight even though he had certainly lost.
Like some have said I think Rhoades froze on the night but that is no excuse he was outclassed by phenomenal young fighter I was blown away by Canelo I didn't think he was that good TBH.
in that situation, being dominated gives you no chance of winning. going out on your shield, or just upping the workrate at least gives you a chance.