By Eóin Kennedy
It was a relatively quiet summer for the sport of boxing but with August closing out and September rolling in, that usually means boxing’s pay-per-view king, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is getting ready to jump back into action. That once again is the case this year and on September 14th Canelo will put his WBA, WBO and WBC super middleweight world titles on the line against Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the process both men will add another chapter to the storied Mexico vs Puerto Rico rivalry in boxing.
While Canelo vs Berlanga wasn’t the fight most boxing fans wanted to see next, the sport’s followers have become accustomed to a ‘take what your given’ style approach to matchmaking from Canelo. The Mexican’s place as the golden goose of boxing today isn’t up for debate and his achievements as a four-division world champion speak for themself, but the argument does get made, and it’s justified, that Canelo often opts for easier and less deserving opponents than what may be alternatively available. Yes, I am talking about David Benavidez, but we’ll get to him in a while. For now let’s focus on who Canelo has fought.
Let’s take Canelo’s last four opponents as a snapshot of what caliber of fighter the Mexican icon is facing and try to determine whether or not Guadalajara’s favorite son deserves the ire or not. Back in May Canelo put his undisputed world title status on the line against game compatriot Jaime Munguia and save of Benavidez, Munguia was as good a challenge as was available at that time and the fight certainly didn’t disappoint as a spectacle. As an opponent selection I’ll rate Munguia 8/10. Before that we must go back to last year’s September date where Canelo’s four titles were on the line(he’s since relinquished the IBF title), this time against Jermell Charlo. Charlo jumped up two weight classes to challenge and gave one of the limpest performances from an undefeated world champion in a world title fight, perhaps, ever. At least in recent memory. Charlo as a selection gets 5/10. I was excited for that one in advance so I can’t be too harsh with the benefits of hindsight, but that showing from Charlo was abysmal to say the least and the selection of a super-welterweight by the undisputed super-middleweight champion does leave a bit to be desired. Before Charlo it was the tough, gritty and battle worn Englishman John Ryder who was game and tenacious in defeat but didn’t ever threaten to cause the upset on the night, 7/10. Ryder was preceded by the final fight of the trilogy with Gennady Golovkin which came too late in the Kazakh fighter’s career to be truly competitive and for that reason it also only gets a 7/10, maybe too generously.
It’s tough at the top in any sport and boxing has a fanbase that will vocalize their displeasure at what they perceive to be favorable opponent selections. Canelo sits at the very top of the boxing pyramid and while that status brings extreme wealth and negotiation leverage that other fighters simply don’t have; it also comes with intense scrutiny and criticism which the Mexican generally isn’t too fond of. Regardless of what you think of Canelo’s last four opponents or his matchmaking on a general level over a longer period, the point cannot be disputed that he is a modern day great in the sport of boxing and he will one day stroll nonchalantly into the Hall of Fame without much objection. Where his career stands now is already iconic, a four-weight world champion, undisputed world champion at super-middleweight where he beat three undefeated world champions (Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant) consecutively to claim that honor, a fact that doesn’t get acknowledged enough.
A victory for Canelo over Berlanga in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 14th isn’t a foregone conclusion but it is expected. Canelo is just too long in the tooth to be troubled by anything the limited Puerto Rican brawler has to throw at him, but sometimes fighters do get old overnight, and Canelo Alvarez is sixty-five fights deep into a professional boxing career that started in Tonalá, Mexico at just fifteen years of age. Canelo is thirty-four now but an old thirty-four-year-old. That’s what happens when you start at fifteen, you get older faster, but while the bones are no doubt creaking, Canelo has etched his name into the annals of boxing history for evermore and more importantly done his boxing-mad country proud. Even if he rode off into the sunset before the Berlanga fight, that fact wouldn’t change. The only fighter still active that can question Canelo’s legacy and claim he avoided him should he retire without fighting him is David Benavidez. Benavidez has been chasing boxing’s biggest fight for years and the fans are clamoring also, arguing that now is the right time.
Canelo has opted for Berlanga as his next dance partner and the fact that Benavidez has moved division, at least for now, up to light-heavyweight further complicates the making of a Canelo-Benavidez super-fight, although Canelo was briefly a light-heavyweight world champion. To ask does boxing need Canelo vs Benavidez seems cliché especially as the sport has been on such a hot run despite a slow summer, but mega fights like this are never bad for the sport. The real question is does Canelo feel it will hamper his legacy if he retires without fighting Benavidez? Mexican fans treat their legendary fighters like demigods and Canelo is already considered a peer of Julio Cesar Chavez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales and other greats. Claiming the scalp of Benavidez may make him primus inter pares.
