Breadman GGG-Canelo mailbag:
I couldn’t shake my gut feeling. You know there is actual scientific evidence that a gut feeling exist.
You guys know I don’t score fights at home. I was at strip club but I went alone. I didn’t score it but I was tracking who I thought was winning and I was able to watch it without commentary.
I thought GGG won the fight. But as I was watching I felt he wouldn’t get the swing rounds that I thought he was winning. The reason being is he kept missing too big and Canelo was the clear a side. Canelo walked down last and GGG was the defending champion…..Canelo did a great job of riding and turning off of GGG’s big right hand. GGG never adjusted to Canelo’s defensive move. I know you guys hate this but Defense is part of the scoring criterion. I was saying to myself if GGG throws a double right hand or throws one to the body he could trap Canelo as he tried to exit. GGG never committed to either adjustment.
Starting with Canelo I thought he fought the best he has ever fought. He was fast. He was sharp. His jab was good. He countered when he could and his defense was on point. He never let GGG dig in with anything nasty to his body or heads. He got hit but nothing critical clipped him. His stamina is what it is and he’s never going to be Salvador Sanchez in the stamina department. More people think Canelo lost than think he won but I am very impressed by the kid. His skillset is elite.
Although I thought GGG won the fight closely, I hate to say it but I think he’s declining. Not to the point of being shot. But sort of like how Chavez was after he fought Whitaker. You could see Chavez was on the other side of the apex. Guys like Giovanni Parisi and David Kamau started going the distance with Chavez. That’s what happens to pressure fighters. It happened to Duran and Pacquiao also but the difference is they evolved into cute boxers so it allowed them to stay at the top longer once they lost the “destroy” gene.
We also saw it with Chocolalito when he went the distance with Arroyo. That performance didn’t sit well with me. It was more than an off night it was the tip of the iceberg. Pressure fighters have a different mentality in the ring. It takes more out of them to do what they do. That’s why guys like Barrera, Pac and Duran evolve and smooth their styles out when possible.
It also takes more to get in shape because of the energy they have to put out. The camps also dissipates their peak. What pressure fighters do to get in shape is considered overtraining for other fighters…I hate this because I really respect the team of GGG and Abel Sanchez and I believe they were denied great opportunities. . But GGG was avoided so much during his actual peak, he’s approaching 36, with these young guns hovering. If he fights the quartet of Jacobs, Charlo, Canelo or Devevyanchenko I think he will lose to one of them. It’s how the attrition of boxing goes.
Golovkin is relying on a great jab, an iron will and an iron chin. That’s what got him through the Jacobs fight and it’s what got him through the Canelo fight. GGG is not the typical front running boogeyman. When things don’t go his way he keeps fighting like an animal. But how much longer will that get him by at the elite level? If you notice both Jacobs and Canelo were depleted at the end of the fights. It’s because of the horror movie pressure. But GGG’s punch selection is off. He’s not seeing a target then boom, releasing a shot. He didn’t dig anything real to Canelo’s body and Canelo was laying on the ropes! Boy this tears me to pieces to see this because I know what the boxing establishment did to him starting with the Felix Sturm duck, up through Sergio Martinez, then through Cotto and the delay with Canelo. He’s no longer the MONSTER anymore and trust me he will get fights now. They will line up to fight him.
It’s bizarre because although Canelo executed better I still thought GGG won. Both are truly great fighters.