Last year most people on here said the toughest opponents that Canelo would face and lose to were Saunders or Plant. Now that he smoked both of them people say they were C class fighters and no good. Now to “prove his worth” ,according to Canelo haters, he has to go up fight Bivol or Beterbiev. He is the smaller guy in there now. He breaks them down and finishes them off consistently . There is no one in his weight class who could endure the way he breaks them down.
I don't know who said that, but obviously that was never the case. The toughest fight out there everyone mentioned for years is Golovkin, against whom he lost twice (maybe a draw in the rematch) but the judges beat GGG for him. Even today, clearly past it Golovkin is probably still the toughest fight for him below 175. But Canelo won't fight him.
Can you link the posts where these posters are changing the goal posts? Or are you picking and choosing comments from different posters?
He beat two "slick fighters" in a row to shut up you haters. Both Saunders and Plant are good out-boxers and movers. I like Canelo's adaptation and versatility.
The people saying that are 5 years behind, he can't be beat without power now. No one at 175 is lacking power the way Caleb Plant is so those fights will be much more challenging if he pursues them. I hope we see Charlo and Benavidez first at 168.
with the new canelo's footwork being slick is not enough anymore. And this footwork is there since 3 or 4 years ago, you are right. I wonder how did he improved it? was it reinoso? I always doubted that reinoso could fix this problem. Anyway, his footwork issues are more than fixed since long ago. He cuts the ring like a boss, he does it really well now.
I think it's because he fought Mayweather and Lara, two of the slickest of the era, then tried to box GGG who's an elite pressure fighter. If Plant had fought GGG he might have come in understanding how to evolve and meet the challenges Canelo posed. Instead this was his first exposure to someone above the gatekeeper level. The new footwork is a big component of the power surge too.
The best SMW win plant and Saunders have between them is an old Caleb Truax … That says everything to me .. being 'slick' doesn't actually mean you are effective or noteworthy.. both men have almost 0 legacy at super middleweight
No... majority opinion ever since the Saunders fight was a realistic possibility since 2020 pre-pandemic is that Canelo would win... People who said Plant would beat Canelo were laughed at... Even though I actually quite like Saunders, and I rate what he did at 160, his level of opposition at 168 was appalling. Same with Plant: aside from Uzcategui, he beat a bunch of no-names. I can't speak for other people but it was obvious to me all along that Canelo was on another level and would beat these two guys + Callum Smith (who shouldn't have been champion after he robbed Ryder).
