Canelo is afraid of Triple G says Chavez Jr.

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By Dan Ambrose: Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2,-1, 32 KOs) has analyzed Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) and come to the conclusion that he’s afraid of middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Chavez Jr. has been thinking this for a while now, but he thinks that Canelo chose him because he thinks it’s going to be an easier fight than if he were to step inside the ring with GGG, which would be a hard fight for him potentially.

Chavez Jr. says he wants to show that Canelo made a mistake in selecting him, because he’s going to use his size and punching power on the 26-year-old Canelo when the two of them fight in three months from now on HBO PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in London, England.

“The pressure is on Canelo, because he’s the favorite in this fight,” said Chavez Jr. “I have the passion for boxing again. This is probably the most important fight of my life. A lot of people think Canelo is afraid if Triple G, and I think the same too. Canelo thinks this is an easy fight, and he thinks Triple G is more difficult,” said Chavez Jr.

The perception by a lot of boxing fans is that Canelo is very afraid of Golovkin. Whether that has cost Canelo fans is unknown. I imagine it hasn’t helped him in the popularity department. Canelo’s popularity probably would be much than it is now if he had fought Golovkin a year ago instead of vacating his World Boxing Council middleweight title.

You can also say that the match-making that is being done for Canelo by Golden Boy hasn’t helped him grow more popular. In addition to Golovkin, if Golden Boy had matched Canelo against Demetrius Andrade, Jermall Charlo, Jermell Charlo and put him in a rematch with Erislandy Lara, he would likely be a lot more popular if he won all of those fights. Instead of being Canelo matched against those fighters, he’s been in with Amir Khan, Liam Smith, James Kirkland, Alfredo Angulo and Miguel Cotto in the last three years. Now Canelo is about to be matched against Chavez Jr. instead of Golovkin and the other top fighters I just mentioned.

It’s pretty easy for some fans to come to the same conclusion that Chavez Jr. has about Canelo being afraid of Golovkin, because his past actions speak for themselves. Canelo vacated his WBC middleweight title rather than fight Golovkin last year. Canelo wouldn’t fight Golovkin because he needed to grow into the middleweight division despite him being the same weight if not heavier than the Kazakhstan fighter. Further, Canelo’s flat fee offer to Golovkin has been interpreted by boxing fans as sign that he’s not serious about wanting the fight with him. The flat fee offer is viewed by many as a way for Canelo and Golden Boy to get out of the fight with Golovkin by saying, ‘Look, we gave him a big offer and he turned it out. It’s on him. He doesn’t want the fight.’

“This is why Canelo made the fight [with me],” said Chavez Jr. “He thinks I’ll sacrifice to make 164.5, and he thinks Triple G is more difficult for him. Canelo is a counter puncher, but he’s never fought a bigger guy than him. He’s always the bigger guy, and he never had to worry about the power of the other guy. This time he has to handle my power and size, because in this weight class one punch can change everything. I need to win this fight and move my career,” said Chavez Jr.

Canelo has fought several fighters that were as heavy as him in James Kirkland, Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout. They were a little taller than Canelo, but they didn’t have a weigh advantage. Canelo appears to be the heavier fighter than his opponents a lot of times. It’ll be interesting if Chavez Jr. comes into the fight with a weight advantage over Canelo. I don’t think he will. I think Chavez Jr. is underestimating ho heavy Canelo gets after he rehydrates after he makes weight. Canelo looks like a light heavyweight when he gets inside the ring for his catch-weight fights. I don’t know how long Canelo will be able to get away with the draining of water weight and then rehydrating. A lot of fighters start to weaken and struggle from taking off massive amounts of weight when they hit their 30s. Canelo might be able to last that long.

We’ll learn a lot about Canelo in 2017. What he does in his fight against Chavez Jr. will show a lot of boxing fans how good of a fighter he is at this time. Moreover, we’re going to see if Canelo will fight Golovkin this year or if we’ll hear Golden Boy say that their offer was rejected by Triple G. It’s predictable stuff. We want to see Canelo show how good he is. Golden Boy says he’s the new star in boxing. Canelo needs to show that he rates that tag.

When asked what it feels like to be the ‘new face of boxing,’ Canelo said, “I feel very, very honored. This is what I’ve always wanted it boxing, and I’ve reached it. I want to continue to work hard to continue to make history in the future. At a very early age, I’ve always taken risky fights, even fights my team didn’t want. That’s why I am here today. People see the talent. People see the discipline. They see the respect I have for the sport and for the fans. You can’t fool the fans,” said Canelo.

Canelo is the No.1 PPV fighter in the sport today, but he’s failed to become a huge star and bring in the tremendous numbers that we saw in the past from Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Perhaps one reason for that is the soft match-making that Golden Boy is doing for Canelo. They’re not making Canelo against the best fighters that they need to for him to increase his popularity. Mayweather and Pacquiao were continuously fighting the best in their respective divisions earlier in their career. They weren’t dodging fighters, and they weren’t matched the way Canelo is being matched. It’s unclear whether Canelo can be the same kind of star that Pacquiao and Mayweather were with the way that Golden Boy is matching him. It’s still early enough in Canelo’s career for him to turn things around and still become a huge PPV attraction if he stars facing the best every time out instead of being spoon fed fighters like Liam Smith, Amir Khan, Cotto, James Kirkland and Alfredo Angulo.

In talking about his fight against Chavez Jr, Canelo said, “It came at the right moment. The fight took a different path from happening, because he [Chavez Jr.] started gaining weight, and I had my career going in a different direction. But it’s now here, and that’s the important thing.”

Chavez Jr. probably would have fought Canelo earlier in his career if he stayed at middleweight, and if he hadn’t taken so many breaks from boxing in the last five years. Chavez Jr’s loss to Sergio Martinez in 2012 seems to have really slowed his career down. The suspension that Chavez Jr. was given after the Martinez fight didn’t help either.

“I’m not worried about that. I’m not concerned about that,” said Canelo in talking about whether the catch-weight of 164 ½ pounds will be a problem for him against Chavez Jr. “He’s the one that has to worry. It’s in the contract, and he has to respect the fans,” said Canelo.