Seriously Mark you’ve just seen how a tired Kovalev could land the jab at will.Dont judge Saunders on last night.
Saunders also always had trouble being motivated and fighting to an inferior opponents level. I predicted he would lose a close and very controversial decision to DL for this reason(homecooking) didn't happen and Saunders put on the best showing of his career. I'm sure he'd be motivated for Clenelo though and would give the best effort he's capable of. I'd like to back him here but it's really hard due to his inconsistent showings. At his best he's all wrong for the favored one though.
Saunders is just like Fury. When the big fight comes and he's scared of being beaten/hurt, he turns it on. He slacks off mentally/physically when he fights people not considered threats (though the jetlag issue wasn't his fault this time, same thing happened to Darren Till in the UFC with the late visa). Saunders is not like GGG/Jacobs/Kovalev. He has faster hands and feet and is better defensively, very hard to hit clean. He still has the reach on Canelo, though. And a good chin in case he does get nailed. I think he can definitely outbox Canelo, but we all know that winning on points is next to impossible in Canelo's den of snakes. GGG, Khan and even Kovalev fights show pretty clearly how 'boxer' v. Canelo rounds are scored by media pundits and official cards. So unfortunately I'm not sure if he can officially win that fight or not.
He blows hot & cold too much.. looks brilliant one minute & so so the next.. bad style fight for most tho at his best.. I can see him frustrating the hell out of the Mexican.. He's too young for Canelo though.
Agree with this. Saunders at his best is daunting. But if he puts in a run of the mill appearance Canelo turns him inside out. BJS would have to take it super seriously, and I think he would.
A fat and lazy fighter like Saunders with extremely poor work ethic will never beat a guy like Canelo.
I think BJS is a smart guy and after all he knew he looked like hot garbage in this fight. His toss out to Big Red made sense but if he box like that with Canelo he will be destroyed. Now if he trains like crazy he has a decent chance with Big Red.
The real question is, have we really seen the best of Saunders at 168? Because would you favor Saunders from the Akavov and Monroe fights over Canelo either? Saunders is known for fighting to the level of his competition, and how can you really expect someone to get in tip-top physical and mental shape and be incredibly focused on opponents like Coceres and Isufi? It's still a possibility we've yet to see the best of Saunders at 168.
