Will Canelo fIght Beterbiev by the end of 2021 ?

[Blodhemn]

Funny to hear that Beterbiev is tailor made for Canelo. The same way, he was tailor made for Gvozdyk.

Lol - Beterbiev would make for an awfully stiff suit. Nobody wearing that with comfort. He's a stronger, boxier version of GGG with less defense, but at this stage, more accuracy and ring IQ. It's kind of comical to even imagine Canelo's flashy shots vs Beterbiev's compact, torqued hammers.

[Ricky]

Canelo is rolling the dice that Kovalev is faded enough that he can prey on him for a trophy belt at 175. I think maybe he bit off more than he can chew though. Beterbiev would batter Canelo to a pulp.

[Enlightened-One]

I’m not sure how it’s possible to explain the reason I feel that Beterbiev isn’t a considered a commercially “big name”, whilst refraining from discussing the business side of boxing, which is somehing you said you didn't really want to discuss.

The only thing I will say, is that if boxing was a really lucrative sport in countries from the former Soviet Union, then we wouldn’t see so many fighters from that region competing on US shores.

In terms of the Arabian countries, very few marquee bouts have been staged in that geographical region. And I can’t see any reason why Canelo would agree to face Beterbiev anywhere other than the US or Mexico.

Canelo is capable of engaging in more lucrative bouts against fellow DAZN stablemates than the monies he’d receive facing Beterbiev.

Anyway, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Canelo face Artur Beterbiev, but if the Mexican faces the same version of the plodding Russian that fought Koelling and Johnson, then I’d expect I’d expect a comfortable and quick victory for the often despised DAZN/GBP fighter.

Beterbiev lacks head movement, his work-rate is too low, he loads-up on his punches, his hands aren’t particularly fast, he blocks shots using a high guard rather than avoid them using footwork/upper body movement, he's been dropped and staggered on multiple occasions etc.

Artur Beterbiev’s style is tailor-made for Canelo.

Would you favour any LHW over Canelo? If you think Canelo is elite LHW quality, how do you think he'd do at cruiser?

I never claimed Canelo was an elite-level light heavyweight. It didn’t happen… ever!

I do favour Canelo to score a comfortable victory over the past-his-prime version of Sergey Kovalev next month.

I also previously conceded my belief that I would favour Canelo beating the same version of Artur Beterbiev that fought the likes of Koelling and Johnson. I wasn’t impressed by the Russian’s performance in those bouts.

Let’s be perfectly honest, Beterbiev was considered by most boxing pundits (as well as the majority of this forum) as being an underdog against Govzdyk, which was mainly due to his less-than-stellar form entering the bout. He previously looked very beatable. However, his performance last weekend was really impressive. He defied my personal expectations.

So there are a couple of questions that need answering in order for me to commit to answering your question, which are:

• Was Beterbiev’s performance against Govzdyk a one-off, much akin to Shawn Porter’s devastating fourth round KO over Paul Malignaggi?

• And can Canelo adapt to facing 175lb-ers?

I need to see Beterbiev maintain the good form he showed in the Govzdyk bout against another top-tier world-rated 175lb-er, as well as witness Canelo’s efforts against Kovalev, in order to answer these questions.

And finally, I won’t bother to answer your sarcastic and silly question about the amount of success Canelo would achieve at cruiserweight.

[Bandog]

Maybe its been said, but its kind of silly to even talk about Beterbiev until we see how Canelo vs Krusher ends up.

[Enlightened-One]

Maybe its been said, but its kind of silly to even talk about Beterbiev until we see how Canelo vs Krusher ends up.

Agree 100%.

[margaret thatcher]

Would you favour any LHW over Canelo? If you think Canelo is elite LHW quality, how do you think he'd do at cruiser?

I never claimed Canelo was an elite-level light heavyweight. It didn’t happen… ever!

I do favour Canelo to score a comfortable victory over the past-his-prime version of Sergey Kovalev next month.

I also previously conceded my belief that I would favour Canelo beating the same version of Artur Beterbiev that fought the likes of Koelling and Johnson. I wasn’t impressed by the Russian’s performance in those bouts.

Let’s be perfectly honest, Beterbiev was considered by most boxing pundits (as well as the majority of this forum) as being an underdog against Govzdyk, which was mainly due to his less-than-stellar form entering the bout. He previously looked very beatable. However, his performance last weekend was really impressive. He defied my personal expectations.

So there are a couple of questions that need answering in order for me to commit to answering your question, which are:

• Was Beterbiev’s performance against Govzdyk a one-off, much akin to Shawn Porter’s devastating fourth round KO over Paul Malignaggi?

• And can Canelo adapt to facing 175lb-ers?

I need to see Beterbiev maintain the good form he showed in the Govzdyk bout against another top-tier world-rated 175lb-er, as well as witness Canelo’s efforts against Kovalev, in order to answer these questions.

And finally, I won’t bother to answer your sarcastic and silly question about the amount of success Canelo would achieve at cruiserweight.

I never said you thought Canelo was already an elite LHW? It was hypothetical wording my man. IF. If Canelo were to KO or convincingly beat Kov and Bert as predicted he's capable of, to gain 3 major LHW titles, that would surely make him one of the absolute top rated LHWs, in which case I'm curious how people think he'd do at the next weight. Legit questions bruh

I'll ask again in case you missed, because I'm curious, is there anyone active at LHW now you'd favour over our boy Canelo?

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Enlightened-One]

I'll ask again in case you missed, because I'm curious, is there anyone active at LHW now you'd favour over our boy Canelo?

It would be hypocritical of me to prematurely bestowe an honorary rite of passage to Canelo being regarded as the best light heavyweight on the planet, without requiring the need for verification, such as seeing the Mexican face the very best available opposition at 175lbs.

The only world-rated opponent we’ve seen Canelo face so far, whose natural habitat was above 160lbs, is Rocky Fielding. The Brit was merely a 168lb-er, rated 9th by The RING and only held a secondary WBA world title.

I do have a sneaking suspicion about the potential success he might be able to achieve at 175lbs though.

That being said, I believe there are political and business reasons that may scupper the possibility of many cross-promotional cross-network 175lbs bouts being made, since the big-names in the division are predominantly with Top Rank/ESPN (with one or two of them with PBC/Fox/Showtime), but Canelo is with GBP/DAZN.

I also feel that the Mexican has far bigger fish to fry, fiscally, in the lower weight classes, by facing fellow DAZN stablemates at 160lbs and 168lbs.

Therefore, I believe that Canelo’s soirée at 175lbs will be short-lived. He might only consider one-off highly-lucrative marquee career-defining bouts in that weight class in the distant future. And lets’ face it, Sergey Kovalev is currently the only light heavyweight the division has to offer that can facilitate those requirements.

[DrDuke]

He won't do it, even if he wins Kovalev. He signed for Kovalev only because his team thinks, that Kovalev is old and exposed. But actually they made a mistake.

[Impractical Poster]

I would love to see this fight. I love everything about Beterbiev and would be rooting for him. Canelo has proved thus far to be an extremely durable fighter, Maybe Kovalev will prove to be a step too far. Maybe not. If Canelo ends up being able to land an Artur fight, take his shots and beat him, Canelo is undoubtedly the best fighter on the planet.

If it doesn't get made, it's not because Canelo is afraid. It's safe to say at this point that Canelo has a proper pair.

[Impractical Poster]

@ such a certain statement in Kov is better than Artur. I would feel secure in picking Artur stopping Kov if they ever meet.

[boxing_rocks]

@ such a certain statement in Kov is better than Artur. I would feel secure in picking Artur stopping Kov if they ever meet.

Those are just words. They picked Kovalev, because he was/is the softest of the current champions. They just found an excuse to not fight Beterbiev: "we defeated a better LHW". I sure hope that Kovalev smashes the arrogant prick even though I don't like Kovalev himself.

[jewboypgh]

Betterbiev would destroy him