True. I just thought he had more in his arsenal than he did. He's now between a rock and a hard place. Stay at 168lbs and struggle with weight. Move up to 175lbs and get banged by by Beterbiev or Joe Smith.
Smith was always going to struggle given his footwork , like most of Tesco Joe's fighters, is garbage. As Gorilla Ryder showed it's easy to get inside and pin him down. He did well to stay the full 12 rounds.
Yeah so many fight fans just ignore footwork all they see is the punches or mistake someone who simply has good balance as having good footwork which are not the same thing. Anyone can look well balanced if they don't move their feet.
No idea why he didn't use Manny Steward's game plan for big guys fighting little guys that served Lennox on occasion and saved Wlad's career: 1) As little guy closes distance (as he must), try to land a jab. 2) When little guy gets close enough to throw a punch, grab him and lay your torso across the back of little guy until ref breaks you up. 3) Repeat this procedure until little guy is completely exhausted from you laying across his back (usually takes between 8 and 10 rds) 4) Knock completely exhausted little guy tf out. 5) Profit.
Smith is overrated! He is a straight up and down fighter. Pure fish and chips with no special effects. You soon forgot the size, height and rich differences once the fight started. It was as if Canelo or as some of you call him the Clenbuterol kid was toying with him.
Smith should have used the jab how Hearns used his jab v Leonard despite Tommy getting caught, it would take a Hearns type fighter to beat Canelo.
the 2-3 times that Smith hugged Canelo seemed very awkward. I think that Mundo Smith did not like the boos from the crowd and tried to please the crowd. Smith should have definitely hugged more.
Better guys have had much more success with their jabs against Canelo so I'm pretty certain this was just a case of Smith having no timing like you said.
I think the issue is that when you're punching down from that height you fall into the trap of head hunting too much and Canelo is very hard to hit clean. Also Smith said he was surprised by the jab and of course he felt his power. Overall just have to say the better man won and Smith, while decent, is clearly a few notches below Canelo and doesn't have the tools to compete at that level. In retrospect the Ryder fight wasn't a bad night, it's his level. Smith should rematch Ryder rematch
Not even kidding. Every time Canelo gets close enough to attempt a punch of any kind, just grab him and lay across his back. Smith should have re-hydrated to 200+ pounds and is totally tall enough to get the effect we're looking for here. Canelo would gas after about round 9 and Smith could KO him. Wlad achieved "greatness" in this fashion. Why not Smith?