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Rightfully so, given the leverage he holds as the sport’s biggest star and reigning pound-for-pound king, Canelo Alvarez has been lauded almost gratuitously over the past year for his commitment to still seek difficult challenges within multiple weight divisions.
But can we now turn the focus to something else, and essentially more important, just days removed from Alvarez’s destruction of unbeaten super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders in their unification fight? Alvarez, at age 30, is not only getting better with each big fight, he’s doing so at a fairly alarming rate.
Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) turned pro at the tender age of 15 and was already headlining major pay-per-view events by the age of 23, which means it has been a long time since the Mexican superstar’s face wasn’t high up among the sport’s biggest draws. Yet it would be hard for anyone to go back to those times and imagine Alvarez would actually become this good along the way as a complete fighter who has carried his power up to the higher divisions.
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Much of the credit for that goes to the relentless drive Alvarez still has to get better even though his Hall of Fame legacy has seemingly long been stamped. A great deal of it should also go to his longtime trainer, Eddy Reynoso, who only recently has become the “it” coach of the sport taking on a number of high-profile clients.
But Alvarez, who can still make 160 pounds for the right fight, has gone as high as 175 to win a title and hasn’t turned down the idea that he might go back and eventually challenge unified light heavyweight champion (and full-time destroyer) Artur Beterbiev. In between, Alvarez has found a perfect home at 168 pounds, where the weight cut is manageable and his recent free-agent status from a promotional and network standpoint allows Alvarez to remain as busy as he pleases.
Luckily for fans, that has amounted to quick turnarounds as Alvarez is on pace to fight four times in 2021 and, thanks to his wide victory over Callum Smith last December, could end up with five fights in a 13-month stretch. If the activity level for an elite fighter isn’t unheard of enough in this modern era, the reality of Alvarez’s evolution as a fighter is just as crazy.
Despite being the decided smaller man above middleweight, Alvarez can win a fight under any scenario he desires. He has walked down bigger foes and chopped them down to the body. Alvarez can also go back to the counter punching style he previously employed against faster opponents at 154 pounds to snipe from the outside.
And if you try to simply outslick Alvarez as Saunders did by using his awkwardness to make an adjustment in the middle rounds, Alvarez is too smart and powerful not to do exactly what he did in stopping the brash British champion in Round 8 when he stepped up his level of output and finished Saunders with a brutal short uppercut that broke multiple bones around his eye socket.
As Alvarez proved in a pair of classic thrillers against Gennadiy Golovkin, he also has one hell of a chin, to boot.
This is an all-time great fighter at the peak of his powers who is only getting better. Let’s enjoy him while it lasts.
Pound-for-Pound Rankings
Dropped out: Manny Pacquiao
Honorable mention: Davis, Artur Beterbiev, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Jermall Charlo, Josh Taylor, Roman Gonzalez, Jermell Charlo