Who beat Canelo more convincingly: Mayweather, Golovkin the first time around or Bivol?

I see your point, but still he demolished other guys at 168 and Kovalev and got the credit, so why not take the effect of a loss? The surprise that had he won that 12th he would have had a draw against Bivol is surprising and to me not right. Had that been another fighter but Bivol he might have looked good. I respect your opinion, I just feel that the opponent had something to do with it.

 

But did Ward deserve to beat Kovalev or did Ward just edge a bunch of close rounds? There are cases where one fighter does better overall and looks dominant in many rounds but the other guy edges a bunch of close rounds keeping it close. The rounds Bivol won 5-8, 10-12 were pretty clear, the rounds Canelo won were closer due to Bivol's workrate. So that made it seem more one-sided than it was, at least on a RBR basis. Did it really feel like it was that close? No, but Rounds 1-4 could be scored to Canelo, he did land those big uppercuts, after round 4 he only needed 2 more to get a draw and he only got 1. Now if you split the early rounds, 115-113 can seem ridiculouso, but if you value the big uppercuts and have Canelo 4 rounds up, 115-113 isn't ridiculous. It really comes down to how you score those early rounds knowwhatimean?

 

GGGs name has no business in this conversation

 

we trust judges and we give them the choices. The Canelo fight last Sat. was not as close as they said, and I am not sure why he always gets the benefit of judges, but the judges make the decisions and one point here and there is a win, and those wins stand the test of time. No one ever said Thomas Hearns beat Ray Leonard, yet most people think he won that 1989 fight. But the judges say he did not. so he will never have that win.

 

That's boxing, it's scored on a round by round basis so the final tally isn't always a perfect reflection of the entire 36 minutes of action. Some rounds are close, some rounds are not, but the winner gets 10-9 regardless. The bewilderment over how close the decision was is a reflection of how most casuals don't understand or appreciate how prize fights are scored, often with an emphasis on harder more damaging or flashy blows which explains how Canelo won rounds 1-4. So it's not really that hard to undertand how the judges arrived at 115-113 but fans especially those who root against certain fighters like to feign phony outrage over decisions because it's cathartic to do so. But really it's just a tell tale sign of fans jumping to conclusions and thinking that their way of scoring is right and anyone who disagrees is wrong. As boxing fans, we should be able to agree to disagree when it comes to how we think a fight should be scored. The fact that everyone scores matches differently is what makes the sport great, it's not somtehing that should be a sore spot, it's an aspect of the sport that should be embraced and understood to a far better degree.

 

ALL of the Above

 

Imo. Bivol.

 

good post.. When we see decisions of the past we see wide margins by experienced judges.
Hagler vs. Leonard Jo Jo Guerra had it 118 to 110... Why? Who knows. But his decision counted more than any fans... Usually the judges get it right..

 

I don't think you can say much about Canelo vs 168/175. Kov was a shell of his prime, and none of Canelos opponents @168 are close to elite enough to prove your point:

• Rocky Fielding!!
• Callum Smith - decent win, but Smith is not elite, beating a 1 armed Groves? Cmon!!!
• Yildirim!!
• Billy Joe Saunders - career 160lber, looked like dog**** in other fights at 168
• Caleb Plant - B-level at best, no pop, suspect gastank, struggled badly with Truax before Canelo.

Bivol is a cut above anyone Canelo has faced @168 - by a significant amount. Maybe if Canelo had a scalp of a Kessler / Froch type (let alone Ward or Zaggers!!!) then we could maybe argue that 168/175 was the big difference here. But as it stands I don't see it - if Canelo fought an elite 168lber with the same gameplan as Bivol I think he'd get beat as well - I'd take Kessler & Froch to mangle Ginger, and Ward & Zags would humilate him.

Many folks have said that Canelop's level of comp @168 to become undisputed is a disgrace - and they'd be right, must seriously **** off Ward/Zags/Froch/Kessler etc

 

He got credit for Kovalev? News to me. Kovalev fought a horrible fight though. I almost thought it was fixed until the KO. But again, Canelo got little credit for that.

 

bovril

 

Mayweather or Bivol, personally I'd lean to Bivol as it was a better version of Canelo he faced.

 

he got some credit if I remember. The thing is Canelo looked good in other fights against different guys and styles, so this is just a case where Bivol did well.

 

Pbf did smaller faded fighter who wrote the blue print and damn near shut him out. Bivol did a great job as well to though but he was bigger than canelo and prime. I gave canelo 3 rounds. Imo you can't go wrong with either but pbf is my pick.