I honestly think Ryder would put up the best fight against him. He at least has some decent pop in his punches, good skills and fast foot speed. Let's not forget he hurt Smith himself and most people think he won their fight. Smith didn't have 4 weeks notice for that fight. He also isn't scared to engage or phased by the opponent in front of him. He would at least come to win.
Just imagine the Calzaghe that fought Lacy and Kessler in with Alvarez, of all the British 168ers in the last 30 years I'd say that version of Calzaghe, despite the messed up hands, deals with Alvarez.
Yeh john ryder who lost to smith, struggled against rocky fielding and jack arnfield, and was stopped by nick blackwell is the man to cause canelo problems. Ffs. This forum seems to get a raging hardon over particular fighters. Behave lads.
Saunders troubles him the most IMO, but still doesn't have enough power to keep Canelo honest. All Eubank's deficiencies were on clear display when he was schooled by Groves - incidentally, that fight fecked Groves shoulder which IMO led to the best name on Smith's resume. Canelo would school Eubank even worse IMO. Whether or not you think Ryder deserved the nod against Smith, he was clearly on the same level, and although 'styles make fights' I think Canelo would beat Ryder quite convincingly - but I agree that Ryder would at least try and impose himself more than Smith did.
Canelo is to classy for any of our fighters between 160 -175lbs none of them are even close to good enough let's be honest..Canelo putting a beating on Saunders or Eubank would be alright to see I suppose but I'd rather he looked elsewhere.
Sadly none of the British fighters at 168 would trouble Canelo today. Callum Smith had arguably the best chance on paper, and we all saw the result of that fight. Eubank- has absolutely no chance and I would not like to see it as it's just a case of lambs to the slaughter. Eubank is not tall so has no meaningful reach advantage, is not particularly powerful at the weight (he eats himself up to it!), and lastly is not at all elusive or awkward, quite the opposite. He has a low boxing IQ and questionable timing/distance to add to his deficiencies. Canelo would punch holes through him, hurt him badly and effectively end his career at this level. BJS- inactivity, laziness and overeating rules him out as a possible winner. At 160 lbs., a few years ago it could have been quite close, and given neutral judging is an interesting prospect. Today though, at 168 and Billy in the condition he is in, and the lack of sharpness he has shows the last 2 years, no chance. I would back Canelo to totally dominate round 2-3 onwards and stop him late. You can't balloon up and down in weight for 10 years and expect it to not matter in fights like this. Ryder- No chance whatsoever, Canelo stops him before we get to the championship rounds, if he lasts that long at all. He's far too direct and open, yes he's compact, better balance than Callum and carries some power, but he would be out of his depth here. Callum Johnson and Joshua Buatsi: Has Canelo been hit that hard before in a competitive fight? Callum' s a monster puncher but he's 36 next year, and is ridiculously inactive. 3 fights in 4 years! He arguably froze the only time he was on the big stage. He's a big, stocky LH, can't be easy making weight with his body type at that age? Buatsi, as much as I'm a big fan arguably seems to lack the durability to get into a firefight with Canelo. Can he outbox him and hurt him late on? He would need 2-3 fights before that at top level to build up to it. Don't see it right now.
Canelo looks unbeatable right now and is P4P no.1 which is strange for a guy who isn't exceptional in any department and with so many question marks over his resume. Is Canelo really an ATG talent or is it just a sad indictment against the state of modern boxing that he's the P4P champ ?? I'd go for the latter, think we saw his true level against a genuine ATG when he got schooled by a 36 year old Mayweather. And no none of the guys in that poll stand a chance against him.
Whilst I tend to more side with the latter as well, I think it's hard to throw up the PBF defeat as any kind of barometer - Canelo was green as hell and nowhere near prime - but of course neither was Maywether either. Prime for prime they woould be at least 3 divisions apart. I'd argue Canelo is as good as he is now BECAUSE of what he learned from the Floyd defeat. I think Canelo's biggest issue today is lack of any other truly elite talents that could give him the kind of rivalry that would feed his and the other's legacy - GGG is a close as he has, and now he is pushing 38 another win for Canelo there doesn't really answer many questions; though it could at least wipe out the controversy surrounding the 1st fight.
Let's calm down a little, he only beat Smith who had 4 weeks notice and looked a shell of himself from 2-3 years ago, most of us acknowledge he lost to Ryder the fight before.
