We disagree then. Jacobs is faster, heavier handed and more responsible defensively. He's a better boxer than Collins. Collins may have been rougher and tougher, I'll give him that.
You make a good point that getting a decision over Golovkin is a better win than any Kalambay ever had.
He was definitely good enough to completely outbox a guy like Mike McCallum and give him his first loss.
Kalambay was in his late 30s against Collins and very much past it. He'd looked poor in his previous fights and was largely viewed as damaged goods when the fight came off, but managed to go to the well one last time and give a very sharp effort. I had that fight 8-4 to Kalambay. A really good performance all things considered against a really good fighter. Steve had become a bit underrated these days by hardcore fans imo, he was deceptively skilled in a slightly awkward way on top of being extremely strong and tough and adept at mauling and rough housing opponents. Mixed in with solid stand up box punching. He was able to drive McCallum back in the late rounds and tire him out after unwisely electing to box with him in the first half of the fight when rather green and inexperienced. Anybody who can have an either way type fight with Reggie Johnson deserves to be taken very seriously. Anyway, Kalambay promptly looked shot Vs the extremely mediocre Pyatt in his next fight. Collins being able to physically make him uncomfortable is hardly anything to be ashamed of at that age and with that level of decline. With regards to the actual fight in the thread title, I think Kalambay was far too good at what he did to be beaten at it by anyone other than the absolute best. Very much the type of fighter you need a style advantage over far more often than not, which Alvarez doesn't (the other way round really). Too slow of foot and not great at cutting off the ring while punching in tandem with forward movement against fighters who didn't have the diagonal/lateral movement, light-footed sliding/shuffling half steps, pivoting ability, L-stepping etc of Kalambay. Not to mention his jab and ability to counter or lead on the move and slip punches etc. The latter is Alvarez's best attribute arguably and he's outmatched here at it as well as being slower and generally not as talented all round. He has a bit of a punchers chance imo but not that much. Kalambay was pretty durable outside of the freakish loss to Nunn and Alvarez isn't a massive puncher, though neither was Nunn tbf. I'd guess that it ends up looking like the first McCallum fight a bit, though Mike was a better fighter than Alvarez imo.
What do you think of Alvarez overall, Tin? I've been watching some of his other bouts aside from the big ones, and I hate to admit it, but I really enjoy his style (I am certainly biased towards the aesthetic slipping and aggressive countering), despite him being a cheating diva *******. I don't think his skills quite compare with ATGs of similar styles, but he does impress me regardless. Anyway, with all this fluff, I guess my main question is, what would Canelo have to improve in order to be on that level, skill / style wise?
Pick a guy after analysing their skills and looking at how their styles would have meshed. Don’t do it based upon how many losses they have on their record. Their losses aren’t relevant here.
