I say Canelo is the more complete boxer who stepped his defensive game up after facing Mayweather, but GGG appears to be a more accurate puncher with much-lauded power... although his last fight with Daniel Jacobs showed him trading punches with a guy pretty much equal in power, taking him to a really close decision in a very good fight. I'd actually like to see a rematch of that one. If Canelo has a good chin the fight is his, but I really think this one could go either way.
GGG deserves this one. His prime years were spent with people ducking him. I want to see him get this one. But, I acknowledge that this a pick'em. I feel like Canelo has youth and speed on his side. If he survives the early rounds I think he can drag GGG into deep waters. The times the GGG looked mortal were in fights that went into later rounds, like with Jacobs.
6. "I agree with everything you said..." In response to Reply # 1
I am pulling for GGG as well. My belief is he learned from the Jacobs fight since he has rarely fought in the late rounds and will be able to go the distance and finish better. All that said, Canelo can box so it'll be tough.
3. "Gennady by TKO in a great fight" In response to Reply # 0
while I have been impressed with Canelo's defensive development his recent fights have been against sub-par competition with Cotto being the most noteworthy.
beyond that there is also a sense that Gennady has been sandbagging slightly to try and secure a big fight as nobody has wanted to go near him since forever.
It's going to be good though and it's entirely possible my assessment will be proven wrong.
I have a post in sports that has much of this discussed in it by folks.. a lot of folks feel it's Canelo's boxing that will carry the day over Triple G's power but I think most agree the edge either way is quite possibly marginal and I don't think anybody is 100% positive on it.
9. "In what ways is he the better boxer?" In response to Reply # 5
I think some of ya'll are gassed off head movement. He's a counter puncher, true, so he can fight going backwards. And we've never seen GGG do that (or need to do that). But Gennady's jab is better than Canelo's. They're very close in how well they work the body. GGG cuts the ring off better, controls space and has great timing. He's better than Canelo in those regards, imo.
So, how is Canelo the better boxer?
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"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."
11. "You didn't answer the question" In response to Reply # 10
How is he the better boxer? I didn't mention KOs, I mentioned the things I think he does better than Canelo. One of the things you mentioned is about style (countering), and the other is defense... which imo, it's a little hard to talk about since his last 3 fights have been against Chavez Jr (a joke of a fight), Liam Smith, and Amir Khan (a joke of a fight). Cotto was tagging him all night, he just didn't have the size or power for it to mean anything. Also, for my money, Canelo lost that fight with Lara
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"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."
12. "Countering ain't just style" In response to Reply # 11
It's a technical layer to Canelo's game that GGG don't have. He's more patient and accurate than Golovkin, and he's more creative with his punches and combinations.
And I'm not sure why you dismiss defense like that ain't a component of boxing skill. He's comfortable forcing the issue and moving forward, and he's comfortable walking back and picking his shots. GGG is only comfortable coming forward.
And yeah, Cotto lit Canelo up, but that's because Cotto got hands. I think he's technically a better boxer than GGG too. Not that I think Miguel would beat Gennady. He's too small and too beat up.
But even though Cotto touched Canelo, Canelo still won that decision unanimously. I can't see him losing a decision to GGG. I can see GGG sleeping him, but not out scoring him, because Canelo got more ways to rack up points.
14. "I'm not dismissing defense" In response to Reply # 12
I'm saying that in Canelo's last 4 fights, his defense hasn't been there... because again, 3 joke fights which required absolutely no defense from him and then Cotto... who lit him up. So, yes we've seen slick defense from him in the past, but not recently. And against the better fighters he's fought (like Cotto, Lara, and even Floyd if we wanna go there) his defense hasn't been a deciding factor. I don't think I agree with him being more accurate either, but he does throw more punches in bunches. You don't see too many 5 punch combos from GGG, but as far as boxing skills and abilities -- you don't win an olympic silver if all you can do is knock people out.
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"You can't beat white people. You can only knock them out."
8. "Not sure. Jacobs naturally bigger and punches harder than Canelo" In response to Reply # 7
Then Jacobs also has a helluva jaw, so I don't think Canelo wants to stand in there and trade shots with GGG the way Jacobs was able to. Jacobs has more footwork than Canelo, but Canelo does a lot of good dodging solely with his upper body.
but as they say "style makes fights." A beating B and C beating A doesn't mean C beats B blah blah blah
For Canelo, it's going to be a game of stick and move while for GGG, it's going to be the game of timing that he usually plays unless Canelo dawns a new level of head-to-head toughness we've yet to see from him.
Besides all that, I wanna see Jacobs fight Canelo and fight GGG again.
15. "GGG knocks Canelo down within 5 Rounds....Canelo wins fight by split dec..." In response to Reply # 0
I've been going back and forth on this prediction all week. Even though experts and commentators say Canelo is very comfortable at 160, I'm just not fully buying it. I believe GGG will come into the fight with at least a 10-pound advantage. Canelo will have to adjust once he really gets hit with GGG's power. I think that if Canelo survives the first five rounds, he will outbox GGG in the later rounds. Either way, I hope Canelo's game plan is not to fight inside with GGG or to brawl his way through.
17. "Well everyone who said 50/50 was right lol" In response to Reply # 0
I thought they both did what they do equally well. GGG stalked and pressured while Canelo dodged and counter-punched. Canelo dodged the hell out of GGG's power shots, but GGG also dictated the pace of the fight with his pressure... said pressure is the reason I wouldn't have been mad at a GGG victory. Canelo landed a higher percentage of punches if I'm remembering correctly, but as they say "to be the champ, you have to beat the champ," so I'm not mad at the draw either.
Overall it was the kind of match I expected. I don't find either of them super exciting as fighters, but I don't find either super boring either.