Former trainer turned boxing analyst Teddy Atlas is convinced that he has seen signs of decline in Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 59-2-2 (39).
The undisputed super middleweight champion scored a workman-like 12-round unanimous decision victory over English southpaw John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder 32-6 (18) in his home country earlier this month.
The win came eight months after his trilogy victory over the 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin. He triumphed in that bout by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113.
One year before the Ryder bout he moved up to light heavyweight to challenge WBA champion Dmitry Bivol 21-0 (11). The Russian boxed his ears off and despite all three judges award Alvarez five of the 12 rounds, it really was a drubbing.
All of these fights, says Atlas, points to signs that the former number one pound-for-pound boxer in the world is closing in on the final stage of his career at the age of 32.
“Canelo is declining. He’s declining,” Atlas said on The Last Stand podcast.
“In his fight with GGG I thought he showed that he was declining with a very old GGG. An old great fighter, but an old GGG – he showed decline.
“Against Ryder, and I’m taking nothing away from Ryder, he’s a gutsy, gritty fighter from across the pond and he’s a southpaw and I give him that credit for being a gutsy guy, but does anyone think that Canelo from 5 years ago doesn’t get rid of Ryder? That’s the question. I for one would say he would have.
“He throws one punch at a time, he was never that fast with his feet but now he’s even slower at closing gaps. He doesn’t do as much as he used to, he doesn’t put punches together, he doesn’t counter-punch as much and he doesn’t time you as much.
“His workload has dropped, that’s a sign of getting old, he doesn’t finish like he used to, he doesn’t go after them when he could, he allows you to survive. It shows me a deterioration not just physically but emotionally and mentally. The urgency has gone, it’s not there anymore, it’s been taken away.”
Alvarez has a lot of miles on the odometer. He turned pro at 15 and has been boxing professionally for 17 years. His first world title bout was 12 years ago and he has competed in a remarkable 22 championship fights, winning world titles across four separate weight classes.
Alvarez has made it clear that he wants to avenge his loss to Bivol in September if the rematch can be made. Bivol, also 32 but the fresher fighter of the two, has said he is willing to come down to super middleweight to make the bout happen but Alvarez is adamant he wants the fight at the 175-pound light heavyweight limit.
