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When Canelo was at 152 and 154, fighting opponents who are small and feather fisted compared to light heavyweights, they would hit him on the head, and his head would snap and water would fly. But when he fought GGG, and the guys at 168, and the guys at 175, when those opponents hit him on the head, his head barely moves, or at maximum, it moves no more than it moved when the small guys hit him. And I don't mean the punches where he turns with the punch, I mean even when he gets hit flush.
It was especially strange to me in the Kovalev fight, just because, even though it was already super strange to have the same or less "hit" impact vs GGG, a huge puncher at 160, than welterweights and jr middleweights at 152-154, it just got even stranger for it to happen at 168 and then 175. Kovalev was coming off fighting a 200 lbs linebacker in Anthony Yarde, and even Kovalev's jabs would sometimes make a huge explosion of water fly off Yarde's head, and there was a big impact. Part of that was Yarde's haircut but not only. But then vs Canelo, I mean, what can I say, it was like Canelo was stronger than Yarde, even in the early rounds before Yarde got tired, despite there being no way, according to the basic laws of physics, that he is. And if you watch some things Yarde can do in training, there's just no way. He is super strong even for his size, and Canelo is like half his size. "Pound for pound" Canelo is just as strong or maybe a little stronger who knows I'll give benefit of the doubt, but because of the size difference, Yarde should be much stronger overall. And yet when Kovalev fought Canelo, Canelo took Kovalev's punches stronger than Yarde. It made no sense to me. I realize Kovalev might have still been damaged from the Yarde fight, but that explains why Canelo was able to hurt Kovalev, it doesn't explain why Kovalev had no power vs Canelo. Kovalev's arms were tired 10 weeks after the Yarde fight, still? Yes he had his training affected a little but he's still a massive 175 puncher, so it didn't make sense that he lost so much power just like that that now he can't hurt someone that much smaller with consistency (or at all...).
And now, I noticed it again vs Bivol. How can it look like Bivol has no punching power vs a smaller guy in Canelo, but his exact same punches punches, with the exact same safety-first-mentality, have much more punching power vs bigger stronger guys than Canelo? I think the explanation is supposed to be that Canelo went on PEDs before the GGG fight and built up a strong neck, and that's why suddenly his chin cannot be moved even by a sledgehammer, but Bivol's prior opponent Jean Pascal has an even thicker neck, and he also tested positive for PEDs, plus he's much bigger and stronger and more ripped than Canelo (same idea as the Yarde comparison, similar P4P strength to Canelo, but bigger), and Bivol's punches still seemed to impact Pascal's head the same or harder than Canelo's, although not as much as vs Barrera (who is also built like Canelo, just the 6'1 version instead of 5'8 version).
And it gets even more confusing. Oleksandr Gvozdyk is a massive 175 pounder. Bigger than Bivol. If you watch his fight vs Stevenson, one of the most spectacular all around shows of the decade I think on both sides (advantage Gvozdyk but it's like 65/35 or 60/40 the whole fight and Stevenson still shows flashes of what were some of the most aesthetically pleasing and explosive looking punches all decade), the punches being exchanged, well let's just say that if Canelo vs Bivol was supposed to be light heavyweight, then Gvozdyk vs Stevenson must have been super heavyweight. That is what is so confusing, like, how can these be the same weight classes? Vs Canelo, Bivol's punches looked so much weaker than Canelo. And yet, Gvozdyk and Bivol have a common opponent, Isaac Chilemba, and when Bivol fought Chilemba, Bivol's punches looked very comparable to Gvozdyk's in power and impact. Chilemba had a hand injury vs Gvozdyk and got stopped, whereas Bivol hurt him a few times and coasted to a decision, but if you compared one punch per one punch, Chilemba's reaction, both how much his head moved and how hurt he seemed looking at his face, were very similar (just going off memory, so I could be wrong, but not by enough to make the lack of punch impact on Canelo make sense since he fought GGG).
Can anyone explain this? Like how can you watch Bivol vs Canelo, and Bivol vs Barrera or Bivol vs Pascal, and say these are the same divisions, or that is the same Bivol. So my question is, is there something in Boxing that the weaker your opponent is, the weaker it also makes your own punches? Because I thought the weaker your opponent is, the more powerful your punches become landing on that opponent compared to landing on someone bigger and stronger. And yet with GGG-Canelo both fights (but especially the 1st), all of Canelo's fights at 168, and both Canelo's fights at 175, it's gone the opposite direction. The impact of Bivol and Kovalev's punches on Canelo, it made light heavyweight look like... well I was going to say welterweight but there have been plenty of great welterweight fights that when punches land, they look like powerful punches... at lightweight too... really at every weight class.... so I can't even say. It made it look like sparring, really. And the shame of it is that light heavyweight has had some of the coolest shows the last decade (Stevenson vs Gvozdyk, Kovalev vs Pascal, Stevenson vs Fonfara 1 although mostly onesided, Kovalev vs Ward both times although the extreme onesidednes of their apparent gas tanks and levels of basic competency on the inside sort of ruined both of them, along with the same phenomenon at play, arguably, with Ward moving up as with Canelo here, just not nearly as confusing since Ward looked almost as big as Kovalev, certain segments of many Beterbiev fights, and I may be forgetting others).
There have been fights with speed, range, amazing techniques, work rate and stamina, and huge explosive power with speed. Long explosive punches. Short inside explosive punches. The total package. Great defense, great offense. And then Canelo comes up and suddenly we have to contextualize this to the rest of the division, and it brings down the whole division because how can they look so strong and explosive vs each other, but so weak vs Canelo who always looked smaller even than GGG at 160, who is smaller than Charlo at 160 himself, and basically the only reason we've said Canelo is bigger than GGG is because of the leaked fight night weights that say he's bigger, and because all these 168 and 175 pounders look so weak vs him that we assume he must be naturally a strong and heavy 190 or 200 lbs. But I'm telling you, in the ring, it's obvious he is much smaller and weaker (because of the size, not P4P) than Yarde, Pascal, Stevenson, Gvozdyk, and even Bivol, yet when these guys fight him, suddenly they become weak too, I don't get it. Like why is Liam Smith's right hand ******* Canelo's head just as much at 154 as GGG's is at 160, Smith and Plant's are at 168 (Plant dropped Uzcategui with one punch...), and especially, Kovalev and Bivol at 175? Even the body jabs and right hands to Canelo's body looked weaker than they should, although closer to how they should be than the head shots. The head shots were just way, like, what is going on here? This dude is moving up divisions without actually having to move up divisions. Whenever he moves to a new division, that division comes to him. That division becomes weaker to him, instead of him having to fight a more powerful division. These two Canelo fights at 175 basically ruin the whole good decade at 175 because now Bivol, Gvozdyk, Stevenson, Beterbiev, Kovalev and Ward are all brought down by it. They go from looking strong and powerful to "I guess only vs each other because they all suck and only look stronger but really they're not, and they all have weak chins which makes their punches look powerful when they're not, we just didn't know that until a middleweight with actual good strength and actual good chin, P4P, moved up and showed how overrated these guys are." I'm not saying Canelo couldn't have moved up to 175, but I don't understand what I'm watching. He should be taking the punches a lot harder and probably getting blown out. He should still look explosive at 175 because of his power and strength, and his punches should still somewhat jack the heads of his opponents and look like they hurt, but they should be undeterred unless he goes like Lomachenko vs Jose Pedraza on them. And this part of Canelo vs Bivol looked pretty normal. But when they land on him, you would expect it to look 50% or 75% more explosive, and for it to have a big effect sooner than later.
But I mean, it never made any sense that GGG didn't body punch him in the first place when Canelo's biggest weakness is his stamina and body punches seem to drain the most stamina. That arguably should have been a blowout also. The guy has some of the most mobile head movement in the entire sport, but some of the least mobile body and leg movement, to go with the least amount of stamina. So if you tuck your chin and go to work chopping down the tree, when you have the power and durability of GGG, then you're going to stop him by the end of the fight. If all you do is throw head shots, he only has to focus on defending his head, so he can do all that head movement freely, and you will miss all night especially if you are punching underwater like GGG was (supposedly maybe the Big Bear altitude training at that age), and you might even lose not to mention failing to secure the KO.
That never made sense either. "GGG didn't throw to the body or commit to his punches because he didn't want to be countered." What's the point of having the best power and the best chin in Boxing if fighting against someone who punches back means you're not going to use either lol? Why would you avoid your strengths and avoid your opponent's weaknesses especially when they line up to such a perfect almost guaranteed path to victory? Alfredo Angulo wasn't scared to march forward against Canelo at 154. Antonio Margarito wasn't scared of the Pacquiao counterpunch even when he was all busted up. I mean he was but he still attacked with force. Salido wasn't too scared of Loma's counterpunches to keep seeking and destroying. And there are many other examples. Meanwhile, GGG isn't cut, not even a flash knockdown, not even staggered for one second in 24 rounds against Canelo, but supposedly too afraid to really attack like he did vs Murata (who before everything got really inconsistent with Canelo's performances above 154, I would have said punches significantly harder than Canelo. Murata has devastating KO's against gatekeepers at 160 that showed the kind of torque, weight transfer, and devastating results against 160 gatekeepers that I never saw Canelo do even against 154 gatekeepers). I am trying to make sense of this light heavyweight division, and really the whole 160 to 175 landscape since Canelo showed up, and I can't. These guys look so different one fight to another. Even GGG now at 40 looks like a totally different guy than he did vs Canelo and Dereyvanchenko. Vs Murata, that was like prime GGG offensively, and maybe more powerful and explosive than ever. His physique also looks better. His legs, his punch resistance to the body, and his defense (except for the new nice diagonal slips or bops in the pocket and angles Jonathan Banks gave him, which looked great) all look worse, but his punches and combinations look fast, explosive, and powerful as ever, maybe more now because of the added size but the snap came back too in a big way. He looks totally different now than before. Zero consistency. And you would think he would get in the best shape to face Canelo and Dereyvanchenko, not a less known guy in Murata. Again, it doesn't make any sense. Or how can Plant look that explosive vs Uzcategui, who is a big strong 168, but look so weak vs Canelo? How can Callum Smith look so good one fight and so bad vs Canelo? And then Kovalev vs Canelo and Bivol vs Canelo, compared to Bivol vs Chilemba and Pascal cross referenced to Gvozdyk vs Pascal/Kovalev Pascal/Gvozdyk-Stevenson/Gvozdyk-Beterbiev, just makes even less sense.
Anyone got a theory?
It was especially strange to me in the Kovalev fight, just because, even though it was already super strange to have the same or less "hit" impact vs GGG, a huge puncher at 160, than welterweights and jr middleweights at 152-154, it just got even stranger for it to happen at 168 and then 175. Kovalev was coming off fighting a 200 lbs linebacker in Anthony Yarde, and even Kovalev's jabs would sometimes make a huge explosion of water fly off Yarde's head, and there was a big impact. Part of that was Yarde's haircut but not only. But then vs Canelo, I mean, what can I say, it was like Canelo was stronger than Yarde, even in the early rounds before Yarde got tired, despite there being no way, according to the basic laws of physics, that he is. And if you watch some things Yarde can do in training, there's just no way. He is super strong even for his size, and Canelo is like half his size. "Pound for pound" Canelo is just as strong or maybe a little stronger who knows I'll give benefit of the doubt, but because of the size difference, Yarde should be much stronger overall. And yet when Kovalev fought Canelo, Canelo took Kovalev's punches stronger than Yarde. It made no sense to me. I realize Kovalev might have still been damaged from the Yarde fight, but that explains why Canelo was able to hurt Kovalev, it doesn't explain why Kovalev had no power vs Canelo. Kovalev's arms were tired 10 weeks after the Yarde fight, still? Yes he had his training affected a little but he's still a massive 175 puncher, so it didn't make sense that he lost so much power just like that that now he can't hurt someone that much smaller with consistency (or at all...).
And now, I noticed it again vs Bivol. How can it look like Bivol has no punching power vs a smaller guy in Canelo, but his exact same punches punches, with the exact same safety-first-mentality, have much more punching power vs bigger stronger guys than Canelo? I think the explanation is supposed to be that Canelo went on PEDs before the GGG fight and built up a strong neck, and that's why suddenly his chin cannot be moved even by a sledgehammer, but Bivol's prior opponent Jean Pascal has an even thicker neck, and he also tested positive for PEDs, plus he's much bigger and stronger and more ripped than Canelo (same idea as the Yarde comparison, similar P4P strength to Canelo, but bigger), and Bivol's punches still seemed to impact Pascal's head the same or harder than Canelo's, although not as much as vs Barrera (who is also built like Canelo, just the 6'1 version instead of 5'8 version).
And it gets even more confusing. Oleksandr Gvozdyk is a massive 175 pounder. Bigger than Bivol. If you watch his fight vs Stevenson, one of the most spectacular all around shows of the decade I think on both sides (advantage Gvozdyk but it's like 65/35 or 60/40 the whole fight and Stevenson still shows flashes of what were some of the most aesthetically pleasing and explosive looking punches all decade), the punches being exchanged, well let's just say that if Canelo vs Bivol was supposed to be light heavyweight, then Gvozdyk vs Stevenson must have been super heavyweight. That is what is so confusing, like, how can these be the same weight classes? Vs Canelo, Bivol's punches looked so much weaker than Canelo. And yet, Gvozdyk and Bivol have a common opponent, Isaac Chilemba, and when Bivol fought Chilemba, Bivol's punches looked very comparable to Gvozdyk's in power and impact. Chilemba had a hand injury vs Gvozdyk and got stopped, whereas Bivol hurt him a few times and coasted to a decision, but if you compared one punch per one punch, Chilemba's reaction, both how much his head moved and how hurt he seemed looking at his face, were very similar (just going off memory, so I could be wrong, but not by enough to make the lack of punch impact on Canelo make sense since he fought GGG).
Can anyone explain this? Like how can you watch Bivol vs Canelo, and Bivol vs Barrera or Bivol vs Pascal, and say these are the same divisions, or that is the same Bivol. So my question is, is there something in Boxing that the weaker your opponent is, the weaker it also makes your own punches? Because I thought the weaker your opponent is, the more powerful your punches become landing on that opponent compared to landing on someone bigger and stronger. And yet with GGG-Canelo both fights (but especially the 1st), all of Canelo's fights at 168, and both Canelo's fights at 175, it's gone the opposite direction. The impact of Bivol and Kovalev's punches on Canelo, it made light heavyweight look like... well I was going to say welterweight but there have been plenty of great welterweight fights that when punches land, they look like powerful punches... at lightweight too... really at every weight class.... so I can't even say. It made it look like sparring, really. And the shame of it is that light heavyweight has had some of the coolest shows the last decade (Stevenson vs Gvozdyk, Kovalev vs Pascal, Stevenson vs Fonfara 1 although mostly onesided, Kovalev vs Ward both times although the extreme onesidednes of their apparent gas tanks and levels of basic competency on the inside sort of ruined both of them, along with the same phenomenon at play, arguably, with Ward moving up as with Canelo here, just not nearly as confusing since Ward looked almost as big as Kovalev, certain segments of many Beterbiev fights, and I may be forgetting others).
There have been fights with speed, range, amazing techniques, work rate and stamina, and huge explosive power with speed. Long explosive punches. Short inside explosive punches. The total package. Great defense, great offense. And then Canelo comes up and suddenly we have to contextualize this to the rest of the division, and it brings down the whole division because how can they look so strong and explosive vs each other, but so weak vs Canelo who always looked smaller even than GGG at 160, who is smaller than Charlo at 160 himself, and basically the only reason we've said Canelo is bigger than GGG is because of the leaked fight night weights that say he's bigger, and because all these 168 and 175 pounders look so weak vs him that we assume he must be naturally a strong and heavy 190 or 200 lbs. But I'm telling you, in the ring, it's obvious he is much smaller and weaker (because of the size, not P4P) than Yarde, Pascal, Stevenson, Gvozdyk, and even Bivol, yet when these guys fight him, suddenly they become weak too, I don't get it. Like why is Liam Smith's right hand ******* Canelo's head just as much at 154 as GGG's is at 160, Smith and Plant's are at 168 (Plant dropped Uzcategui with one punch...), and especially, Kovalev and Bivol at 175? Even the body jabs and right hands to Canelo's body looked weaker than they should, although closer to how they should be than the head shots. The head shots were just way, like, what is going on here? This dude is moving up divisions without actually having to move up divisions. Whenever he moves to a new division, that division comes to him. That division becomes weaker to him, instead of him having to fight a more powerful division. These two Canelo fights at 175 basically ruin the whole good decade at 175 because now Bivol, Gvozdyk, Stevenson, Beterbiev, Kovalev and Ward are all brought down by it. They go from looking strong and powerful to "I guess only vs each other because they all suck and only look stronger but really they're not, and they all have weak chins which makes their punches look powerful when they're not, we just didn't know that until a middleweight with actual good strength and actual good chin, P4P, moved up and showed how overrated these guys are." I'm not saying Canelo couldn't have moved up to 175, but I don't understand what I'm watching. He should be taking the punches a lot harder and probably getting blown out. He should still look explosive at 175 because of his power and strength, and his punches should still somewhat jack the heads of his opponents and look like they hurt, but they should be undeterred unless he goes like Lomachenko vs Jose Pedraza on them. And this part of Canelo vs Bivol looked pretty normal. But when they land on him, you would expect it to look 50% or 75% more explosive, and for it to have a big effect sooner than later.
But I mean, it never made any sense that GGG didn't body punch him in the first place when Canelo's biggest weakness is his stamina and body punches seem to drain the most stamina. That arguably should have been a blowout also. The guy has some of the most mobile head movement in the entire sport, but some of the least mobile body and leg movement, to go with the least amount of stamina. So if you tuck your chin and go to work chopping down the tree, when you have the power and durability of GGG, then you're going to stop him by the end of the fight. If all you do is throw head shots, he only has to focus on defending his head, so he can do all that head movement freely, and you will miss all night especially if you are punching underwater like GGG was (supposedly maybe the Big Bear altitude training at that age), and you might even lose not to mention failing to secure the KO.
That never made sense either. "GGG didn't throw to the body or commit to his punches because he didn't want to be countered." What's the point of having the best power and the best chin in Boxing if fighting against someone who punches back means you're not going to use either lol? Why would you avoid your strengths and avoid your opponent's weaknesses especially when they line up to such a perfect almost guaranteed path to victory? Alfredo Angulo wasn't scared to march forward against Canelo at 154. Antonio Margarito wasn't scared of the Pacquiao counterpunch even when he was all busted up. I mean he was but he still attacked with force. Salido wasn't too scared of Loma's counterpunches to keep seeking and destroying. And there are many other examples. Meanwhile, GGG isn't cut, not even a flash knockdown, not even staggered for one second in 24 rounds against Canelo, but supposedly too afraid to really attack like he did vs Murata (who before everything got really inconsistent with Canelo's performances above 154, I would have said punches significantly harder than Canelo. Murata has devastating KO's against gatekeepers at 160 that showed the kind of torque, weight transfer, and devastating results against 160 gatekeepers that I never saw Canelo do even against 154 gatekeepers). I am trying to make sense of this light heavyweight division, and really the whole 160 to 175 landscape since Canelo showed up, and I can't. These guys look so different one fight to another. Even GGG now at 40 looks like a totally different guy than he did vs Canelo and Dereyvanchenko. Vs Murata, that was like prime GGG offensively, and maybe more powerful and explosive than ever. His physique also looks better. His legs, his punch resistance to the body, and his defense (except for the new nice diagonal slips or bops in the pocket and angles Jonathan Banks gave him, which looked great) all look worse, but his punches and combinations look fast, explosive, and powerful as ever, maybe more now because of the added size but the snap came back too in a big way. He looks totally different now than before. Zero consistency. And you would think he would get in the best shape to face Canelo and Dereyvanchenko, not a less known guy in Murata. Again, it doesn't make any sense. Or how can Plant look that explosive vs Uzcategui, who is a big strong 168, but look so weak vs Canelo? How can Callum Smith look so good one fight and so bad vs Canelo? And then Kovalev vs Canelo and Bivol vs Canelo, compared to Bivol vs Chilemba and Pascal cross referenced to Gvozdyk vs Pascal/Kovalev Pascal/Gvozdyk-Stevenson/Gvozdyk-Beterbiev, just makes even less sense.
Anyone got a theory?
siablo14
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