Canelo is the more skilled boxer than GGG

By Hector Gonzalez: Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin II has officially been set for this upcoming Cinco De Mayo on May 5th, and as expected, the boxing community is coming together weighing in on what fight number 2 is going to look like. Heated debates are happening on all forums and media outlets, mostly based on what appeared to be a controversial draw from their first encounter.

From the point of view of this writer, this fight is going to be different. It’s important to first begin by addressing what transpired in their first encounter. It might come across as counter intuitive to many fans to suggest that although GGG was perhaps the dominant fighter in their first encounter, Canelo displayed more boxing ability then did GGG. For instance, from the point of view of this writer, GGG’s dominance specially during the middle rounds appeared to mostly be related to Canelo being fatigued and by GGG’s shear strength then by GGG’s pure boxing ability. Canelo displayed great head movement by avoiding most of GGG’s big punches, in fact, GGG rarely landed flush. On the flip side, Canelo was able to land flush on GGG, even sometimes landing combinations on GGG. Both GGG and Canelo appeared to take each other’s punches well, fans sometimes forget that although GGG has never seen the canvas, neither has Canelo, in other words- the one punch power that Canelo and GGG have displayed in the past, is not going to be a factor in this fight, it comes down to who can land the clean combinations more frequently.

So what changes in fight number 2? It comes down to who has the ability to make the proper adjustment, and in the opinion of this writer Canelo has the more skill set to do so. In fight number 2, I see Canelo being more comfortable at 160 in other words, his stamina should be better. Like in fight number 1, I see Canelo avoiding most of GGG’s punches with head movement. In order for GGG to land more effectively on Canelo, he would have to get away from fighting with shear power, but by creating faints and presenting a more technical style of fighting, a style that he has never displayed. Canelo in the other hand continues to develop, it’s part of the intrigue of watching Canelo, that he continues to get better as he progresses. In other words, Canelo has more tools, more boxing I.Q.