How would Canelo Alvarez fare vs Carlos Monzon's contenders? I'd give Canelo a chance only vs Bogs, Tonna, who would probably pull his typical **** of trying to win by DQ, Mundine, maybe Licata,...don't think he'd have an easy time with Bouttier, would probably have been too big for Napoles, and he loses to Benvenuti, Griffith, Briscoe and Valdez. I may get more in depth later, but in the meantime, what are your opinions?
There was a huge chasm between Napoles and Canelo regarding skill and over all attributes...of everything, to be sure,...but at first I thought the size differential would tip it over for Alvarez, but that's bull****...Canelo was nowhere near a Monzon, and Mantequilla would have beaten the guy IMO.
Bump. Canelo is much better in my eyes now than a few years ago. He'd do well, though still lose some.
Canelo is a good fighter, but he could have beaten Boggs, Bouttier, Licata, Moyer, and Tonna. He might have run into trouble against Benvenuti and Griffith, win a close fight, but Valdez before the two Monzon fights would have spelled victory for Rodrigo who knocked out Bad Bennie Briscoe with one punch in round 7, May 1974, in Monte Carlo, for the vacant WBC Middleweight title. Also Briscoe may have beaten Alvarez.
He'd maybe beat them all bar Valdez, Griff, Nino and Bennie, though I could see some of the aforementioned being close fights. Benvenuti was inconsistent and on the way down by the time he faced Monzon, a fair chance that Alvarez beats that version. Griffith was past prime but still a very, very good fighter and highly intelligent, enough to get by on points in a good fighter. Briscoe isn't an unkind style but his power, stamina and endurance would put Canelo under heavy pressure over 15 rounds. Alvarez and Valdez are quite similar fighters actually. Good counterpunchers with decent punch-slipping ability and head/upper body movement and positioning, but slow feet. Valdez though hit harder, was slicker and a bit better in general, if smaller. I'd still favour him clearly albeit in a good fight. Napoles is hard to gauge because he never fought at the weight again. If he'd beaten someone like Licata, Mundine or Bogs it would be clearer. He'd be at a big size disadvantage and not in his prime despite the gap in class, tough hurdles to leap although not impossible.
