stujones wrote: ↑10 May 2021, 05:52
Iron beard,
Clearly some of my posts has been misread by you.
I did not mean that Canelo struggled with Saunders in my point 4.... He didn't, my point was yes Pacquiao lost to JMM and Morales clearly (IMO) within in his dominant run..... but these were JMM and Morales - two other all time greats. He is allowed to lose to them and still be an ATG himself. Canelo at the moment isn't beating the quality of opposition to be in the ATG. He is in the process of cleaning out a particularly poor Super Middleweight division.
Yes, I agree FMJ could have fought the likes of Paul Williams etc - yes..... Not going to argue against that. Hence why I have not mentioned Carlos Baldomir despite being the #1 in the division..... but I still maintain that yes whilst I can see the view that Mayweather might not have a GGG victory in his resume - GGG aside, Canelo doesn't have a DLH, Castillo, JMM, Hatton, Corrales level of fighter on his - as I said GGG aside..... I think the fundamental difference we share on Floyd is that clearly you think Floyd shouldn't have some zero's and I don't. For me the only time I thought "not sure whose got this" for Floyd was against DLH. I just think some will always place asterix's by Floyd either as after timers or don't look at the big picture..... JMM was way out of his weight category when he fought Floyd according to some..... but same people had no complaints when he fought Pacquiao at the same weight....... Hatton had no right to be at WW, yet prior to the event most of the experts were saying "Hatton is the bigger man naturally, the move up will suit him better than Floyd" - yet when Floyd beat him it was "Hatton is no Welterweight", and Floyd was? Shane Mosley was past it against Floyd, no one was saying that when he put on the second best performance of his career the fight before. Corrales was weight drained. Don't need to mention Castillo cos he "lost" that one. Alvarez was too green, despite being a UNIFIED world champion for 2 years and made 7 defences - doesn't matter that Floyd was in his mid 30s and at a weight class which was way above his best years. My point on the Floyd / Canelo debate wasn't on their resume but on their actual fight. No matter what Hopkins achieved after, and he achieved lots - I could never rank him above RJJ because of the manner of their first fight - and yes Hopkins certainly improved a lot after that fight - but RJJ beat him too decisively for that to ever be over turned. You might think "well what about Duran and Tommy Hearns then" - well that was different because Duran was NOT the same fighter at Welter as he was at Lightweight, cards were already stacked too much in Hearns' favour to really impact on Duran's ATG standing - I honestly don't think you can say Alvarez as a Unified champion fighting a guy in his mid 30 and out of his weight class had the cards too stacked in Floyd's favour too impact on his greatness standing. There will always be that "ah but he got schooled by Floyd" asterix there, no matter what he achieves since as it was with Hopkins.
My other issue was this "unprecedent" run he is on..... yes he is looking a million dollars and I have him as a clear current P4P number 1 - but to move into the higher echelons of the ATG bracket, he has got to look good in beating a top 20 P4P fighter himself, at the moment he hasn't done that. Floyd did (Mosley, Hatton, Corrales, JMM, Pacquiao, Alvarez - dominant victories against P4P top 20 opposition at the time of the fight), RJJ did, (Toney) Pacquiao did (don't need to list them) - and yes even those other ATG who are not quite up with the three - Calzaghe, Hopkins, DLH, Tito, Mosley, Barrera, Morales, JMM - also did - so I'd have Canelo behind these by some way at the moment, so I think the description of him being called a once in a generation fighter is a bit much as it stands and I'm not sure what (given his opposition) he can really do about it..... Now if he was to take on Andrade / Charlo etc back at Middleweight, that would be better than his current run. At the moment every time he has fought someone in the top 20 P4P bracket he's either lost, got gifts or had real true struggles - possibly depending on your view on the Cotto fight. Kov, GGG, Mayweather, Jacobs, Lara - 6 best opponents and for me each one a struggle - Cotto one being more open to debate on whether it was a struggle or not. At the moment he is beating belt holders in a poor division - this is not after timing. Saunders' best win at 168 is Martin Murray, and Callum Smith should have lost vs Ryder.
I apologize for missing this post. I was just replying to your direct replies.
What is humorous about this back and forth is that I have never liked Canelo for the same reasons that I do not like FMJ; I consider them both

picking corporate brands who have been given every advantage over long stretches of their careers. However, I do recognize the greatness of both.
That said, I disagree with you on most of your above post.
I consider SSM, Josesito Lopez, Austin Trout, FMJ, Angulo, Lara, Kirkland, Cotto, Khan, Liam Smith, Chavez Jr, 3G x 2, Fielding, Jacobs, Kovalev, Callum Smith, Yildirim, and BJS to be the most impressive list of opponents in succession of the last 9 years in boxing, and an impressive gauntlet for any era.
That list is very comparable to FMJ’s final 9 year run, replete with multiple retirements and questionable decisions: Baldomir, ODLH, Hatton, JMM, SSM, Ortiz, Cotto, Guerrero, Canelo, Maidana x 2, Pac, and Berto.
Your comment about Pac’s losses to JMM and Morales as forgivable, directly followed by a condemnation of Canelo’s legacy based on his “cleaning out a particularly poor Super Middleweight division” is ridiculous, given the fact that Canelo fought, and lost to FMJ at the age of 22, and fought 3G twice. The fact that he was gifted the first 3G fight does not discount the fact that both FMJ and 3G are at least on par with JMM and Morales.
Furthermore, cleaning out SMW would be more than FMJ ever did at welter.
JMM was obviously not the same fighter against FMJ as he was v Pac at the same weight. He was more acclimatized to the weight by then.
FMJ’s Hatton win is no more impressive than Canelo’s wins over Trout, Lara, Jacobs, Kovalev, or BJS, IMO.
SSM was MORE past it v Canelo than he was v FMJ, but everyone considered him a large dog v Margarito based on him being past it and Margarito’s beat down of Cotto. Then Cheato’s concrete tape job was caught pre fight and SSM indeed put on a great beat down of the disgusting criminal.
The FMJ fight did not materialize until over 1 year later, putting SSM that much further past it. Still, SSM nearly put FMJ away that night.
As far as weight draining goes, Canelo was clearly wilted at the weight he fought FMJ at. That is not to suggest that he would have beaten FMJ, at the class limit, but he was drained.
I consider BHop greater than RJJ based on overall legacy. I do not consider it particularly close.
I consider Hearns to be underrated. I consider him at or near Duran’s level.
The foundation of Canelo’s greatness in the end will be considered the combination of his longevity and his dedication to constant improvement. The Canelo of today is an order of magnitude superior to the version FMJ fought.
Canelo has had struggles with the kind of fighters that FMJ avoided completely or until they were less dangerous. I do believe that Canelo should have fought 3G a year before he did, but that is not close to completely avoiding Paul Williams, Margarito, and failing to make the Pac fight until it was well past its sell by date.
Canelo is great BECAUSE he has fought and struggled with the best, just as Pac has, and BHop did, and Ali did, and Duran did, and Hearns did.
There is no denying FMJ’s greatness, but he spent his greatest years avoiding the most dangerous challengers at their most dangerous. Canelo may be accused of the same in certain instances, but he took Trout on at his most dangerous. He took Jacobs on at his most dangerous.
Caleb Plant is a legit challenge, as was BJS, and Callum Smith. If Andrade and Charlo want some of the current king of boxing, they need to come up the hill and meet him.