I think Holyfield made a good point many years ago - (somewhat paraphrasing as I cannot find the clip) "Mike Tyson didn't hit me that hard, I've seen that he hit people hard he just didn't land on me with those shots. It was mostly arm punches". I thought a similar thing when I first saw Crawford say that. Canelo really didn't land a lot clean, so difficult to judge a full bodied shot. Power doesn't always come from size too, if I recall correctly, Emmanuel Steward said once that Hamed hit harder than Lewis on the bags.
Funny how Bivol said Canelo hits harder than Beterbiev. So if we're to take their statemetns at face value, then are we supposed to believe that Kavaliauskas hits harder that Artur?
I think Bud has actual grounds to say that Canelo didn't really hit him that hard, because he really wasn't able to load up and hit him with the kind of concussive punching power that we've seen Canelo dish out to other fighters before, including Bivol. I mean against Bivol, in the early goings, Canelo went balls to the wall and loaded up with some massive shots that bruised Bivol's bicep. And he tired himself out trying to start so strong, leading to a mostly easy last 8 rounds for Bivol against a gassed Canelo. But the point is, Canelo took the fight to Bivol early, despite Bivol's tight defense, Bivol felt Canelo's power. Canelo never really came at Bud like that, to inflict damage, because unlike Bivol, Crawford wasn't standing in front of him, he was moving, making it hard to set. Canelo still was able to outland Bud but Bud was able to time him and land perhaps the better punches despite being largely outlanded. Canelo had no problem targeting Bivol, the problem was landing, as much of his punches were hitting gloves, or biceps, or arms. With Bud, Canelo couldn't catch a moving target, who was more rangey than Bivol. Bud didn't have to do the kind of blocking Bivol did, becuase Bud's best defense was moving away, being slipperly, and occassionally catching Canelo with eye catching shots.
Those weren't tire marks on your boys face. Bottom line, as experienced as Canelo is, he never learned how to cut off the ring properly. You never seen anyone "run" from Roman Gonzalez, Golovkin or Beterbiev. Why, because they cut off the ring very well and were/are always in striking distance.
