How Much Can Canelo Improve Going Forward?

[Slicc]

Canelo is 27 years old, but I can't tell if he's entering his prime or hitting his limits, especially at 160. Canelo's power was decent below 160, but overrated imo. He KO'd outmatched opponents, and floored Austin Trout. Other than that, he moved up to 160, and stunned a smaller Cotto a few times. I don't see his punches doing much to any top-level middleweights. Not only that, but these middleweights are bigger and stronger than nearly everyone Canelo has ever fought.

His stamina, in particular, has concerned me for a while. I've noticed that he tends to fight in spots, and wear himself out. He gassed out against Austin Trout, and wound up getting walked down onto the ropes at points. If my memory serves me, Canelo spent most of his bout against Liam Smith, on the ropes. In his most recent fight, he slowed down after the 3rd round, even though his opponent, GGG, hardly ever went to the body. It's like Canelo struggles just to be active. Canelo's not very light on his feet, either. He showed movement against GGG, but he was walking from one side of the ring to the other, and staying on the ropes. I think that kind of movement would not help him against fighters like Daniel Jacobs, Billy Joe Saunders, Jermall Charlo, Sergiy Deveryanchenko, and Demetrius Andrade.

He's shown that he can rely on his upper-body movement for 12 rounds. If he gains enough stamina to sustain a consistent offense throughout the majority of a 12-round match, I can see him having success at 160. Top-level middleweights should still give him hell, but better conditioning would benefit him greatly. What do you guys think? Do you think that Canelo will improve enough to overcome his adversaries, or do you think that his shortcomings will get the better of him, eventually?

[Wing Pingping]

'bout tree fiddy

[W1LL]

Enough to comfortably beat Gennady Golovkin on points in a rematch. They actually masterminded the perfect time to fight Golovkin, right when he's slipping. The timing couldn't be better. If they'd waited any longer Golovkin could well have been upset by an unheralded challenger and all those millions of dollars would have been lost. Perfect timing.

[Slicc]

Enough to comfortably beat Gennady Golovkin on points in a rematch. They actually masterminded the perfect time to fight Golovkin, right when he's slipping. The timing couldn't be better. If they'd waited any longer Golovkin could well have been upset by an unheralded challenger and all those millions of dollars would have been lost. Perfect timing.

Man, I really wish GGG could've gotten the fights he wanted, at his prime. It sucks to have to watch a 36-year old taking on boxers in their prime, especially since this is the time everyone decided they wanna fight him. I think GGG should retire soon.

[sunny31]

Man, I really wish GGG could've gotten the fights he wanted, at his prime. It sucks to have to watch a 36-year old taking on boxers in their prime, especially since this is the time everyone decided they wanna fight him. I think GGG should retire soon.

There are plenty of fighters who didn't get the big fights until later on. Joe Calzaghe's big fights all came 34-36, he still did the business.

I don't think GGG is that far gone from his prime anyway, if at all. Middleweights-heavyweights aren't normally affected by age like fighters in the lower weight classes are. I am not really seeing a fighter who is over the hill in GGG. He is just facing much better fighters.

[HarvardBlue]

Man, I really wish GGG could've gotten the fights he wanted, at his prime. It sucks to have to watch a 36-year old taking on boxers in their prime, especially since this is the time everyone decided they wanna fight him. I think GGG should retire soon.

Golovkin isn't old in modern boxing terms he's just fighting boxers that can actually box.

To answer your question. Canelo won't improve much more than he is right now. He hasn't improved much since Mayweather. According to some people he's improved vastly since Mayweather but in reality he has not.

[FinitoxDinamita]

He has hit the ceiling imo. He wont be getting any better.

This is how watered down boxing has become. Back in the days, a fighter of Canelo’s caliber would never be such a superstar. I dont view canelo as super special. He is just a good fighter.

[Redd Foxx]

He's in his prime, clearly. People saying otherwise are just selling their bias. He's still refining his skills and will be developing more. Look how far his defensive skills have come.

[Sun_Tzu]

Canelo will improve in small, maybe imperceivable ways from here on. He is a very good fighter now but I don't think three years from now we will be talking about a significant change in what you see now.

I still think Golovkin beats him in a rematch and if he works the body at all maybe stops him but I will concede it could go the other way.

[Floyd is TBE]

There's definitely room for improvement. His last few fights exposed he still has a lot of the same weaknesses. How much will he actually improve is the real question in my opinion. I think he reached the peak of his abilities a very long time ago, but because he's so young he tends to get the benefit of the doubt.