Canelo Alvarez's Big Flaw Against Sound Boxers

[KTFOKING]

He can’t box off the back foot, if you force him backwards, he’s not very effective.

Yeah, but I don't even think that's the main thing here. It's his inability to be willing to work his way to the inside and increase his volume against these fighters who have mastered distance control. Canelo just ends up showing very little variety to his offense when he fights these types of fighters. You can't rely on putting everything on every single shot in hopes of landing a big one.

[KTFOKING]

He gonna have to be more of a boxer. Throw some pitty pat jabs in there, and mix it with heat in there when possible. Up his activity rate, so he can cause more openings for the big stuff. Ironically a lot like Bivol was fighting. Either that, or totally sell on a body attack in the hopes that it slows Bivol down.

IDK if you can teach an old dog new tricks at this point with only 4 months or so until the rematch. What he'd been doing had been working for him up until this point. He's still very on his feet too, so I'm not sure if more of a "boxing" kind of style would work against an opponent whose lighter on his feet and already used to fighting in that way.

Thank you! This is what I was getting at. All his shots were being thrown with power but he did not need to do that. Can he increase his volume though? Can he take power off his shots to work his way inside and then launch big body shots? All this talk of him being a much improved fighter since Floyd, he still mainly has the same flaws.

Against someone like Bivol, you would need to have a style similar to someone like Spence where he will use his jab to get on the inside and then throw with volume until he breaks you down. Not sure if Canelo's style of staying on the outside and trying to land big counters is going to work...Matter of fact, I know it will not work. So it may be more beneficial for Canelo to fight Golovkin in September and Bivol some time in 2023 after he gets more time to tweak his style a bit.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Yeah, but I don't even think that's the main thing here. It's his inability to be willing to work his way to the inside and increase his volume against these fighters who have mastered distance control. Canelo just ends up showing very little variety to his offense when he fights these types of fighters. You can't rely on putting everything on every single shot in hopes of landing a big one.

I think the extra weight is bad for his cardio too. I thought he looked sluggish vs Kovalev too.

[SilverMiles]

So we all know Canelo is a great fighter and he's no-brainier first ballot HOFer and one of the best in his era. Hell of a fighter yada yada....

BUT, he has a big flaw when matched up against boxers that know how to control distance. He loads up on his shots and isn't creative enough with his offense to close the distance. We saw it against Floyd, Lara and now against Bivol. If you load up against those types of fighters, they will just be able to see your shots coming from a mile away. So to mitigate that, he would have to up his pace and be willing to increase his volume. He does not do that and then he ends up getting frustrated so he goes straight to the ropes in hope of the opponent falling for his bait so he can find an opening that way. Canelo did this against Floyd and did it again against Bivol last night. There was no reason for him to go to the ropes but he was so frustrated that he couldn't break Bivol's distance that he thought he may be able to land a big counter to change the fight. Like Floyd, Bivol was way too smart for that and did not give him any openings. When Canelo loads up on shots and he misses, he always starts to tire and yesterday was no different. You could tell by the 4th or 5th round that he was winded and it was going to be a long night for him.

The question is, since he won't be able to win a distance fight against Bivol, can he make the adjustment to be more active and be willing to take more shots to get on the inside and break Bivol down that way? Because on the outside he just has no chance and will get picked apart and lose another decision. I'm not sure if he has the ability to change things in the rematch.

Thoughts?

This whole Canelo struggles against a certain style is a myth. He struggles against all fights B+ and above. He fought close with Jacobs, Lara, Trout, and Kovalev all of the drastically different styles.

He lost to Mayweather, GGG X2, and Bivol, against drastically different styles. The only thing they really have in common is a great jab. You use the jab and Canelo's head movement is neutralized.

[KTFOKING]

This whole Canelo struggles against a certain style is a myth. He struggles against all fights B+ and above. He fought close with Jacobs, Lara, Trout, and Kovalev all of the drastically different styles.

He lost to Mayweather, GGG X2, and Bivol, against drastically different styles. The only thing they really have in common is a great jab. You use the jab and Canelo's head movement is neutralized.

I saw a clear win about Jacobs but being competitive against top competition isn't a knock. Golovkin is always in competitive fights when he fights top guys.

But this thread isn't about that. It's about WHY he struggles with fighters who manage distance well and why his style of loading up on power shots never works against certain fighters.