Rate Alvarez Footwork

[GrandpaBernard]

Early on in his career he was mislabeled as cement feet

but you don’t get to where he is today without good footwork

[TreyShaw]

He’s shown good foot work at times specifically in the beginning of the first GGG fight but Canelo is more of an upper body movement and head movement fighter. He doesn’t look to make you miss by running away he sits in place and makes you miss a 4-5 punch combo With his superb head and Waist movements, similar to James Toney.

He made Jacobs look foolish at times and Both Callum and Saunders have said they were surprised how slippery he is.

[Roadblock]

It's good for the type of fighter he is, it's just not fast because he is planted to punch with power. there is nothing wrong with his footwork he positions, cuts off. and levers of them great, it's just he is not fleet-footed like a Mayweather Lara, I think his feet are quick enough to catch Plant but he will step through him to catch him not chase him like a ball on a string when Plant throws Canelo will step into him and counter with the tail of his combination finding home.

[daggum]

early on in his career he was simply drained or he got better...no wait he has to be the same fighter...it just has to be that way for floyd and his fans sake

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

I’d give it like a B+, he’s never gonna be a fleet footed fighter but he can move if has to and his footwork, pivots are fundamentally correct. His balance is also very good, you rarely see Canelo look unbalanced when throwing punches.

[Roadblock]

early on in his career he was simply drained or he got better...no wait he has to be the same fighter...it just has to be that way for floyd and his fans sake

His technique is the same, his style is the same, oh wait he put on 20lbs and is punching way harder against bigger slower guys, the trouble with slow people like you is they don't know enough or they don't look from all angles, which one are you?

[mxtali]

His footwork is damn good. A bit slow for an elite fighter maybe, but people confuse fast feet with good footwork. Amir khan had fast feet but was off balance all the time.

[BodyBagz]

It's mostly upper body movement, which is very good.

[billeau2]

Early on in his career he was mislabeled as cement feet

but you don’t get to where he is today without good footwork

Lets look at categories of fighters that trainers have used for over a century or so. My defintions may raise an eyebrow, but im not interested in precision here... Boxer puncher is a boxer with at least one great punch.
Pure Puncher is a guy who has that Golden Punch and everything revolves around that punch
A pure boxer, is a guy who relies on angles, footwork, defense, efficiency to win his fights
A defensive fighter, is a guy so defensively gifted that his defense is his offense...

Great fighters can do more than one thing, but when we get down to what a fighter brings to a professional prize fight, generally speaking one of these approaches is favored... I might have a talent for baking a mean cheesecake, but if I am preparing a meal as a chef (done so), Im not going to whip up a dessert... its not my forte! Ill focus on your sauce, the steak, etc... My mother may swear by my cheese cake, but a professional restaurant reviewer, might find a bit more faults lol... Which is to say: Fighters are trained to work on and execute their best... Just ask Ronda Roussy what happens when you "play boxing" against a boxer!" Or ask James Toney how it feels to go "ground and pound" against an MMA champ.

When we look at footwork, good footwork is relative to the catagory... So. Louis and Foreman, two punchers, were spectacular at cutting the ring down because thats what a puncher needs to do! This is where it gets interesting: People often critisize Louis in particular for moving methodically... Why? Louis needed to cut the ring and find the other guy efficiently to win... not get tired out chasing the opponent, etc. Isn't that what he did? Didn't he win that way?

Boxer punchers are the most general category for footwork IMO. Boxer punchers can function as pressure fighters, ambush predators (think Martinez, and Haye), or even big punchers predisposed to having to work through combinations to catch opponents, etc. Canelo is a boxer puncher with ATG power at Middle Weight. He throws every punch in the book, can counter punch very well ( with the caveat that he does not catch guys extending their punch, which is what a pure defensive wizard like Whitaker could do, or Mayweather could do with a check hook), and has a puncher's power... AT MIDDLE WEIGHT.

Great boxer punchers usually have footwork that allows them to fight off the front foot when they want too. It takes defensive and technical fighters to use the back leg more exstensively because, it takes a lot of energy to move away... to move backwards from an opponent. Try letting your buddy attack you and you can only move away from him... see who gets tired quick lol! every time you move back and opponent moves towards you you extend way more energy to do so... and you can never move as fast going backwards as someone moving fowards. UNLESS you really know your angles, your distancing, etc... Like James Toney! Then you move less than your opponent and cut the movement with angles and moving different parts of the body independently from each other, which makes up the difference. So I may step out at a 45, and shift my head under my front shoulder, while moving away from you... Also: you usually have real counter punching ability ( the ability to catch opponent before their punch is fully extended) which really makes the person pursuing you not want to punch you.

Canelo cannot use defensive tactics, back foot techniques, or complex angles so much... His feet are not slow, but somewhat deliberate in the manner of a puncher. His footwork is fairly straight foward, literally... He knows how to cut the ring, and has avarage foot speed. He tends to gas at times because his movement is not excellent as compared with someone like LOma for example. Canelo makes up for average foot speed by setting traps, pressure tactics, and the use of power in all his shots... making him so well rounded that his foot speed seldom becomes a major issue.

[_original_]

Bad footwork would be someone like Amir Khan, as someone already mentioned. A guy who is constantly off balance, crossing his feet, erratic unnecessary movement, ect. Canelo is slow on his feet for sure but there’s more to footwork than just speed. Balance, feet placement to punch and duck/slip, and intelligent use of angles are all components to boxing footwork you learn as a novice. Canelo has those in spades.