Golovkin: ‘I don’t consider [Canelo] the best’ pound-for-pound

By Rob Smith - 11/27/2021 - Comments

Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin says he doesn’t see Canelo Alvarez as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in boxing after twice sharing the ring with him in their controversial clashes in 2017 & 2018.

Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) feels that after his two fights with Alvarez, both of which he and many boxing fans thought he deserved to win, showed him that the Mexican star isn’t the #1 pound-for-pounder fighter.

Sadly, Canelo has stopped taking risks by facing elite opposition since his questionable win over GGG in 2018.

Many fans felt that Golvokin was TWICE robbed in his two fights with Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs), which took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Canelo made a mistake by walking away from the rivalry after the second fight, which gave many fans the impression that he lacked the self-confidence needed to face Golovkin for a third fight outside of Las Vegas in a neutral state.

Golovkin doesn’t consider Canelo the best

“It depends what we take as the criteria. After my fights with him, I don’t consider him the best,” said Golovkin to the LA Times Espanol when asked if he views Canelo Alvarez as the best pound-for-pound fighter.

What further made Canelo look bad was his positive test for the banned PED clenbuterol, which convinced some fans that he used the substance to help him in his two fights with Golovkin.

Golovkin: 'I don't consider [Canelo] the best' pound-for-pound

Although Canelo’s positive test for clenbuterol was blamed on him eating tainted Mexican beef in his home country of Mexico, some fans didn’t buy the excuse.

Unfortunately, Canelo hasn’t done anything to prove himself as the #1 fighter since his questionable 12 round majority decision win over Golovkin in 2018.

Instead of rising to face the most demanding tests since his close call in his rematch with GGG three years ago, Canelo has opted to fight these less than stellar fighters:

Rocky Fielding
Sergey Kovalev
Danny Jacobs
Callum Smith
Avni Yildirim
Billy Joe Saunders
Caleb Plant

Fielding, Smith, and Saunders were 168-lb champions at the time Canelo selected them as opponents. All three of those guys are with Eddie Hearn.

GGG is tired of seeing Canelo fight carbon-copy opposition

Fans in the United States didn’t ask Canelo to fight any of the seven guys he’s fought in the above list. They wanted to see Canelo fight the best by facing David Benavidez, Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade, Artur Beterbiev, and Dmitry Bivol.

DAZN, who Canelo signed a massive contract with, wanted him to fight Golvokin in a trilogy match.

Rather than giving DAZN what they wanted, Canelo chose to face Saunders, Yildirim, Callum, Jacobs, Fielding, Kovalev, and Plant. In other words, non-marquee opposition in what some boxing fans felt were record-padding fights.

“I am a little tired of this series of boxing, like carbon copy fighters. What Eddie Hearn is trying to do is present one of his fighters after another. It’s like a soap opera that we’re all tired of,” said GGG on Canelo fighting Hearn’s super middleweight champions Saunders, Fielding & Callum Smith to pick up three easy belts.

Canelo pleased a small segment of the boxing world with his fights against Fielding, Callum Smith, and Saunders. Still, for many Americans, they’d never heard of these obscure guys and wanted Alvarez to fight recognizable fighters like Benavidez, Andrade, and Charlo.

Some fans believe Canelo has become risk-averse since his rematch with Golovkin and no longer wishes to face dangerous opposition.

Given the guys Canelo has been facing since 2018, it’s impossible to view him as the #1 pound-for-pound because he could have fought far better opposition but opted to fight lesser guys.

Golovkin feels that Canelo should have a conscience about the fighters he’d been facing and try to raise his standards to give the fans the best.

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