Rhodes went in with a game plan, very much believing he could pull off the upset, he knew his chance was to drag the younger man into a dogfight, quite foolishly under-estimating Alvarez imo, Rhodes tasted the power of Alvarez early and just went into survival mode (very similar to Mosley against Manny) Alvarez could have stepped on the gas and got Rhodes out of there anytime after the fourth round imo, it looked at times like he was merely practising stuff he had been working on in the gym, and like Matthew Hatton said, his defense was much more tighter in this fight.
Rhodes always was british level at best. I love how ALvarez starts every combo with a hook to the body.
He attempts the same combinations that Chavez made famous, but he doesn't do it as well. It starts with touching you to the body then a straight right, left hook combo. Juan Manuel Marquez and Barrera have also mastered that combination. Canelo is not as fluid and his body rythm is nowhere near as positive as those greats though.
At last, praise for Alvarez coming in. The morons who have the temerity to slaughter Rhodes might like to read the Well done Sky thread on the forum. To cut the argument short, I would say: get a life and show some respect.
All credit to Alvarez he put on a very good performance, before the fight I thought Rhodes could pull it off (Had a tenner on Rhodes by KO) it wasn't a great performance by Rhodes but he did the best he could do in a tough environment against someone who at the end of the day was just the much better fighter. The people who are saying Rhodes was only ever british level need to get real though he is a former european champ so how you can say he was only ever british level is beyond me.
I bet the under 9.5. Seemed like a good bet at the time. Still looks pretty good now. Is Alzerez s one punch KO power now over rated at championship level?
Disagree with those that think Rhodes was just outgunned. Rhodes basically just phoned in his performance, he didn't look to take control at any point, allowing Canelo to dictate everything. Canelo did impress me more than he has previously, but he was against a Rhodes that looked as if he had given up before the opening bell.