Does Canelo need to win to have a shot at "greatness"?

The problem here is that most of the greats of the recent past are starting to retire. That means that Canelo is only going to be able to fill his resume with semi green up and comers. There are plenty of average fighters who have a Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins or Mike Tyson on their resume. Who will Canelo have?

If Canelo was great he should have beaten an Old GGG in the first fight. He is a very good fighter but not an all time great and neither is Golovkin

I don't think he necessarily has to. He JUST turned 28 ffs. He's big already, the biggest name in the game & he's got like 5 or so years til he starts getting to the back end of his career. Its certainly not helping him reach greatness if he loses Saturday, but with where he's at already I think its possible he could lose to GGG & then next year or two years from now have some career defining great win vs someone else on the scene that gets him to that highly subjective & speculative sacred ground we call "greatness". I don't think you're necessarily wrong, but even though he's just 28 it feels like he's been around forever. He's been a pro for 13 years and he's been fighting for world titles for more than half of that. I can't help but wonder if the wear and tear is going to set in earlier than usual for him because of that, even though he does seem to be one of those athletic freaks for whom fights like this seem to come naturally. In particular the first GGG fight will have taken a lot out of him, and win or lose he's likely going to have to face a similar ordeal on Saturday. I think you could be right and that he'll carry on for another good few years, but I could also see him retiring at 31 or 32.

GGG would be his best win. Unless he climbs to 168-175 to achieved such a feat. Yes he has to win, other 28 yr old greats have done more than his upcoming battle. Wanna belong in the club? Win that fight at the prime of your career no excuses. Golovkin can make excuses that he’s old. Canelo can’t when he loses. It’ll be his signature win, and other wins in the future will not nearly be close to it, unless a superstar at middleweight will be born or like I said, if he moves up to bigger weights where he’s the underdog.

It would depend on how good he has to be to be considered great. He is going up against a great 36 year old. Trinidad lost to the much older Hopkins and is still generally considered a great fighter. If Canelo bounced back with some excellent wins he might still achieve greatness in my opinion. At the very least I think he is pretty damn good just for what he has already done.. That's true, but tito was no real mw, his best weight was 140-147...he didn't do much of anything past 154. Who's really out there for canelo to make a name off? At this stage he's gotta win this type of fight imo...to really set himself apart as a potential great anyway. He has quite a bit of career left tho, so we'll see what happens.

I would say yes. If he just wants to redeem himself for everything that's happened over the last six months or so however, he just has to fight well.

In this type of situation, almost all great fighters in their prime beat the aging champion...canelo is at his absolute peak and ggg is in the back half of his 30s. Canelo got a pass for losing to Floyd cuz he was "green"...but that doesn't apply anymore. I personally think Canelo is a step below a true great fighter, but I doubt he thinks that. He certainly has those aspirations...time for him to show and prove.It would depend on how good he has to be to be considered great. He is going up against a great 36 year old. Trinidad lost to the much older Hopkins and is still generally considered a great fighter. If Canelo bounced back with some excellent wins he might still achieve greatness in my opinion. At the very least I think he is pretty damn good just for what he has already done..

No. He lost only to one great fighter. Canelo has ONE loss. Against Golovkin it was officially a draw and some thought Canelo won. I'm talking about the upcoming fight here. You're basically saying Canelo doesn't need to beat ggg to still be on the path to greatness, because ggg is nothing special?

yes, he has a lot of names but GGG would be his best win by far. Right now his biggest win is probably cotto, who got his middleweight title from beating a hobbling sergio martinez with busted knees. I say probably because Canelo beat fighters who did and would have beat cotto (trout/lara) but cotto is the bigger name

Regardless of whether Golovkin has done anything to be considered a great, he's got a ton of heat and beating him is a big deal. So long as Golovkin doesn't go lose a bunch of fights afterward, beating him means something.

So do great fighters lose to guys who haven't done anything special? I'm talking about Canelo trying to elevate himself to the status of past great fighters...where undoubtedly he'd like to be. No. He lost only to one great fighter. Canelo has ONE loss. Against Golovkin it was officially a draw and some thought Canelo won.

No. I don't think Golovkin has done anything special to make anyone's resume look great. Who has he beaten? Jacobs? Greatness with a small g Canelo already is. So do great fighters lose to guys who haven't done anything special? I'm talking about Canelo trying to elevate himself to the status of past great fighters...where undoubtedly he'd like to be.

No. I don't think Golovkin has done anything special to make anyone's resume look great. Who has he beaten? Jacobs? Greatness with a small g Canelo already is.

I like his red hair, and to be fair, he did beat GGG already.

For "greatness", yes. He'll have a profitable career no matter what but to really get over as a great, he's got to win definitively. His first high profile opponent clowned him. GG is his chance to say "I'm at that level". He can't blow it again. Well put...

For "greatness", yes. He'll have a profitable career no matter what but to really get over as a great, he's got to win definitively. His first high profile opponent clowned him. GG is his chance to say "I'm at that level". He can't blow it again.

He's 28. There is a lot of time and a lot of good fights for him yet if he doesn't win this weekend.