canelo has fought four legit jmw in rhodes, mosley, trout and mayweather all four have made it into the 12th round james has fought four legit jmw in molina, angulo, vera(recently coming off a robbery against jcc)and julio only one made it to see the 10th round and that was with james fighting with two tears in his right shoulder that needed immediate surgery. kirkland does have leaky defense but people make too much out of the ishida ko. just look at terry norris to see how a fighter can come back from a ko loss.
It's not just that fight unfortunately. Kirkland got badly shaken up by another journeyman the fight before Ishida, was very fortunate to get out of the first round against Angulo, and even the completely feather-fisted Molina was able to stun him a couple of times. Ever since his comeback, his chin has pretty much been glass and coupled with his leaky defense, Kirkland doesn't have much hope against Alvarez, who is the better boxer by far and has the quicker hands. The first big shot Canelo lands is very likely to effectively end the fight if they were to match up.
was the lara win over angulo more impressive than kirklands win in mexico? im not saying that james would beat canelo but those saying alvarez would ko james, when canelo has stopped only one legit 154 guy(rhodes) that came to fight, maybe be over-valuing canelos so-called "power."