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I believe the clams that Canelo has gotten better since fighting Mayweather are purely mythos. Below is a comprehensive analysis to prove this point.
Alfredo Angulo
Angulo is tailor made for Canelo. Straight forward, bad chin, no defense, perfect candidate for a confidence booster after practically getting shut out against Floyd.
In Angulo’s last 6, he was stopped by TKO twice. Once by Lara (10) in the direct fight before and again by Kirkland (6) 4 fights prior. He did have another loss a few years back to Cintron who merely outboxed him but we don't consider that due to it being so far back in time and by decision by quality opposition. Prior to getting stopped both times, Angulo had never been stopped or been down.
Assessment: Canelo comes forward like he always did and had a typical seek & destroy performance. I see nothing new from Canelo.
Erislandy Lara
Prior to fighting Canelo, Lara hadn’t really lost. God forgive me, but I don’t count the loss to Williams. Vanes fight was stopped on a cut so there was a draw and I honestly can't remember the Molina fight which was also a draw. Molina might gave gotten him and the draw was a gift though, hard to remember.
Again, lunging forward, one shot at a time. From what I saw, Lara outboxed him. I think Team Canelo thought due to Lara often giving rounds away due to inactivity, they could capitalize on it and bull him down. Lara did a lot of sticking & moving, counters, and Canelo had little answer.
This fight was really close and Jerry Roth (best judge in the business) had Lara winning 115-113, but Canelo had a fix in with Martinez who had it 117-111. By round 7 Max had it 5-2 (Lara), 106-103 (Lara) going into the 12th. That's very bold considering Canelo is the house favorite and the suits almost always favor the house champ.
Assessment: Same shet different toilet. No new tech. Comes forward, tries to pot shot, poor defense. No lateral movement. Couldn’t cut off the ring, lots of body shots (that don’t score like headshots do), same tempo ---> every shot with full power. Same old Canelo. Another seek & destroy mission that didn’t go according to plan.
James Kirkland
Kirkland is another Angulo but not as tough and Team Canelo knew it. Ishida exposed Kirkland's glass jaw a few years before with a first round stoppage. Another feel good fight after a loss Lara despite getting a fixed win. Same old song here. Typical seek & destroy coming forward, throw whatever and Kirkland will crack.
Assessment: Same old skills, nothing new here, not much to say.
Miguel Cotto
Again Seek & Destroy, zero tempo, one shot at a time, defense is his offense. Looking for the Kirkland KO with jab to the body and right hand to the head (month 6 tech). When Cotto attacks, Canelo backs up. Improvement isn’t really the word I would use. If Cotto was naturally bigger I could have seen a stoppage for Cotto. He’s just too small.
Assessment: Same old Canelo. Zero changes.
Amir Khan
Canelo looking for a big name to get the big bucks so Khan comes up a weight class to get it. Khan takes a lot of rounds and giving Canelo a boxing lesson. But size and poor punch resistance eventually worm their way in and Khan get’s stopped. Canelo basically trying to land the kitchen sink the entire time. Zero new tech here and I mean zero. Lunge forward, a pot shot here and there, a few body shots, move straight back instead of lateral. Cat & mouse.
Assessment: Canelo was getting outclassed by a little guy with a bad chin. Nothing new at all. Khan’s lack of chin is the deciding factor.
Liam Smith
If Canelo had looked good, the GGG fight would have happened. Instead, Canelo vacates WBC title and fights eurocan Callum Smith. Same Canelo not joking. Coming forward, when attacked moves straight back. Looks like he might have learned what tempo means, I do see a few instances of him not throwing the kitchen sink with every punch. A lot of Canelo on the ropes, it’s like he wants to try defense against a feather fisted puncher, but he get’s hit more than anything. Not so much search & destroy.
Assessment: I did see Canelo use some Tempo for the first time in his career. Besides that, I did see Canelo trying to do some Defense on the ropes but it was very flaccid and sterile. Pretty much same old Canelo. Prove me wrong.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Chavez is a bum, come forward, little guts, little output. Moves back to let Chavez miss, will sometimes throw some punches after the shuffle back. Back to poor tempo, kitchen sink with every shot, search & destroy, throws uppercuts more regularly. Poor defense.
Assessment: Is throwing uppercuts for a few fights one of these mythical improvements? Nah, nothing new here.
GGG 1
Canelo is on his bike here for most of the fight. You will see a few pull backs to escape pre-punches like he’s trying to pull a page out of Mayweather’s book. When he’s on the ropes, he’s taking damage. Tempo is mostly the same, some pot shots, when he does attack it’s straight forward and very few dividends are being paid. No traps, no cutting off the ring. Clear 116-112 loss for me and most aficionado’s.
Assessment: Canelo tried some defense on the ropes and a few pull backs to draw punches in. Can’t call this an improvement because he clearly lost the fight.
GGG 2
Back to coming forward, Team Canelo saw that he just can’t fight off of the back foot and his defense is so late to the party that Canelo’s best defense is his offense. We see the same old reverted Canelo here. The search & destroy tactics are back in play. Same kitchen sink tempo. Gets beat to the punch, same old body shots.
Assessment: After failing miserably against GGG the first time, they go back to what they know. When you come forward you look better than moving backward, I saw whatever new things Canelo trying in past fights go right out the window here.
Rocky Fielding
We’ve seen Canelo after getting beaten go for the confidence booster opponents, Rocky is no different. Same stuff here, search & destroy, zero defense, all offense. Same kitchen sink tempo. Maybe a little faster.
Assessment: Slight increase in speed, but this was only 3 rounds.
Danny Jacobs
Tries to counter on Jacobs, moves backwards, pot shots, lunging, kitchen sink tempo. Tries a few flat footed pullbacks in the pocket. Doing some head movement coming forward, gets jabbed a lot for it. He is trying, effective, not so much.
Assessment: Canelo tries a few things, but takes lumps for his troubles. Not seeing this improved Canelo though. Canelo getting some counters in.
Kovalev
Canelo losing lots of rounds in search & destroy mode. Gameplan is set traps and counter for the big shot. Kovalev been getting hurt badly by lower level fights and kind of reminds me of Khan in this fight. Only a matter of time before he gets caught in this fragile state. Lunging, kitchen sink, high guard for defense, same old song. I had Canelo down on the cards at the time he finally does catch Kovalev. This is NOT the same Kovalev we all know. Cracked is the proper description.
Assessment: Saw Canelo set some traps to draw Kovalev in so he could land the counter. This is more of a gameplan than improvement.
FINAL ASSESSMENT
I don’t think I need to delve into Callum Smith and Yildrim mainly due to his fans saying he’s already in the improved zone.
Since losing to Mayweather, it’s pretty much the same exact Canelo. In different fights we saw Canelo TRY a few things.
There is clean and clear evidence of Canelo getting touched up and getting matched with a confidence level opposition to keep the gravy train running. Good matchmaking, no argument, but has Canelo become a greater fighter? Hows does one define great? IOnly if you count what's on paper, but the closer you look ---> you'll see a lot of dirty cracks on the surface and the same old shi.t in a bunch of different toilets.
Alfredo Angulo
Angulo is tailor made for Canelo. Straight forward, bad chin, no defense, perfect candidate for a confidence booster after practically getting shut out against Floyd.
In Angulo’s last 6, he was stopped by TKO twice. Once by Lara (10) in the direct fight before and again by Kirkland (6) 4 fights prior. He did have another loss a few years back to Cintron who merely outboxed him but we don't consider that due to it being so far back in time and by decision by quality opposition. Prior to getting stopped both times, Angulo had never been stopped or been down.
Assessment: Canelo comes forward like he always did and had a typical seek & destroy performance. I see nothing new from Canelo.
Erislandy Lara
Prior to fighting Canelo, Lara hadn’t really lost. God forgive me, but I don’t count the loss to Williams. Vanes fight was stopped on a cut so there was a draw and I honestly can't remember the Molina fight which was also a draw. Molina might gave gotten him and the draw was a gift though, hard to remember.
Again, lunging forward, one shot at a time. From what I saw, Lara outboxed him. I think Team Canelo thought due to Lara often giving rounds away due to inactivity, they could capitalize on it and bull him down. Lara did a lot of sticking & moving, counters, and Canelo had little answer.
This fight was really close and Jerry Roth (best judge in the business) had Lara winning 115-113, but Canelo had a fix in with Martinez who had it 117-111. By round 7 Max had it 5-2 (Lara), 106-103 (Lara) going into the 12th. That's very bold considering Canelo is the house favorite and the suits almost always favor the house champ.
Assessment: Same shet different toilet. No new tech. Comes forward, tries to pot shot, poor defense. No lateral movement. Couldn’t cut off the ring, lots of body shots (that don’t score like headshots do), same tempo ---> every shot with full power. Same old Canelo. Another seek & destroy mission that didn’t go according to plan.
James Kirkland
Kirkland is another Angulo but not as tough and Team Canelo knew it. Ishida exposed Kirkland's glass jaw a few years before with a first round stoppage. Another feel good fight after a loss Lara despite getting a fixed win. Same old song here. Typical seek & destroy coming forward, throw whatever and Kirkland will crack.
Assessment: Same old skills, nothing new here, not much to say.
Miguel Cotto
Again Seek & Destroy, zero tempo, one shot at a time, defense is his offense. Looking for the Kirkland KO with jab to the body and right hand to the head (month 6 tech). When Cotto attacks, Canelo backs up. Improvement isn’t really the word I would use. If Cotto was naturally bigger I could have seen a stoppage for Cotto. He’s just too small.
Assessment: Same old Canelo. Zero changes.
Amir Khan
Canelo looking for a big name to get the big bucks so Khan comes up a weight class to get it. Khan takes a lot of rounds and giving Canelo a boxing lesson. But size and poor punch resistance eventually worm their way in and Khan get’s stopped. Canelo basically trying to land the kitchen sink the entire time. Zero new tech here and I mean zero. Lunge forward, a pot shot here and there, a few body shots, move straight back instead of lateral. Cat & mouse.
Assessment: Canelo was getting outclassed by a little guy with a bad chin. Nothing new at all. Khan’s lack of chin is the deciding factor.
Liam Smith
If Canelo had looked good, the GGG fight would have happened. Instead, Canelo vacates WBC title and fights eurocan Callum Smith. Same Canelo not joking. Coming forward, when attacked moves straight back. Looks like he might have learned what tempo means, I do see a few instances of him not throwing the kitchen sink with every punch. A lot of Canelo on the ropes, it’s like he wants to try defense against a feather fisted puncher, but he get’s hit more than anything. Not so much search & destroy.
Assessment: I did see Canelo use some Tempo for the first time in his career. Besides that, I did see Canelo trying to do some Defense on the ropes but it was very flaccid and sterile. Pretty much same old Canelo. Prove me wrong.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Chavez is a bum, come forward, little guts, little output. Moves back to let Chavez miss, will sometimes throw some punches after the shuffle back. Back to poor tempo, kitchen sink with every shot, search & destroy, throws uppercuts more regularly. Poor defense.
Assessment: Is throwing uppercuts for a few fights one of these mythical improvements? Nah, nothing new here.
GGG 1
Canelo is on his bike here for most of the fight. You will see a few pull backs to escape pre-punches like he’s trying to pull a page out of Mayweather’s book. When he’s on the ropes, he’s taking damage. Tempo is mostly the same, some pot shots, when he does attack it’s straight forward and very few dividends are being paid. No traps, no cutting off the ring. Clear 116-112 loss for me and most aficionado’s.
Assessment: Canelo tried some defense on the ropes and a few pull backs to draw punches in. Can’t call this an improvement because he clearly lost the fight.
GGG 2
Back to coming forward, Team Canelo saw that he just can’t fight off of the back foot and his defense is so late to the party that Canelo’s best defense is his offense. We see the same old reverted Canelo here. The search & destroy tactics are back in play. Same kitchen sink tempo. Gets beat to the punch, same old body shots.
Assessment: After failing miserably against GGG the first time, they go back to what they know. When you come forward you look better than moving backward, I saw whatever new things Canelo trying in past fights go right out the window here.
Rocky Fielding
We’ve seen Canelo after getting beaten go for the confidence booster opponents, Rocky is no different. Same stuff here, search & destroy, zero defense, all offense. Same kitchen sink tempo. Maybe a little faster.
Assessment: Slight increase in speed, but this was only 3 rounds.
Danny Jacobs
Tries to counter on Jacobs, moves backwards, pot shots, lunging, kitchen sink tempo. Tries a few flat footed pullbacks in the pocket. Doing some head movement coming forward, gets jabbed a lot for it. He is trying, effective, not so much.
Assessment: Canelo tries a few things, but takes lumps for his troubles. Not seeing this improved Canelo though. Canelo getting some counters in.
Kovalev
Canelo losing lots of rounds in search & destroy mode. Gameplan is set traps and counter for the big shot. Kovalev been getting hurt badly by lower level fights and kind of reminds me of Khan in this fight. Only a matter of time before he gets caught in this fragile state. Lunging, kitchen sink, high guard for defense, same old song. I had Canelo down on the cards at the time he finally does catch Kovalev. This is NOT the same Kovalev we all know. Cracked is the proper description.
Assessment: Saw Canelo set some traps to draw Kovalev in so he could land the counter. This is more of a gameplan than improvement.
FINAL ASSESSMENT
I don’t think I need to delve into Callum Smith and Yildrim mainly due to his fans saying he’s already in the improved zone.
Since losing to Mayweather, it’s pretty much the same exact Canelo. In different fights we saw Canelo TRY a few things.
- Pull backs
- Head movement
- Defense on the ropes
- Adjustment to tempo
- Traps
There is clean and clear evidence of Canelo getting touched up and getting matched with a confidence level opposition to keep the gravy train running. Good matchmaking, no argument, but has Canelo become a greater fighter? Hows does one define great? IOnly if you count what's on paper, but the closer you look ---> you'll see a lot of dirty cracks on the surface and the same old shi.t in a bunch of different toilets.
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