CAN ANYONE CONQUER CANELO?
THERE can’t be many more pointless how-to guides than the How to Beat Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez guide Floyd Mayweather authored and published in September 2013. That book, though read widely, appears as gobbledygook to most who attempt to follow it and has long been in need of both translation and a reprint.
The truth is, no matter how much time is spent studying it, nobody can understand it and nobody can put its lessons into practice. Moreover, nobody can become Floyd Mayweather and nobody is likely to confuse the Canelo Alvarez defeated by Mayweather in 2013 with the Canelo Alvarez wreaking havoc today.
Now, in fact, with Mayweather retired (kind of), it is Alvarez who runs boxing, it is Alvarez who presents boxing’s biggest conundrum, and it is Alvarez who operates with the backing of the entire establishment behind him. Busier than ever, Alvarez makes obscene amounts of money each time he fights, regardless of the opposition, and has recently had an easy time of it with both Callum Smith, considered a threat, and Avni Yildirim, considered a delayed Christmas gift.
Next, he lets Billy Joe Saunders, the WBO super-middleweight champion, have his chance on May 8, and the world duly waits for the inevitable. They wait for Saunders to try and fail. They wait for Canelo to solve yet another style and make it look unnervingly simple in the process. They wait for Canelo to collect another belt.
In terms of weapons, style is perhaps Saunders’ greatest. Slick, unpredictable, and calm under fire, he boasts the mentality and
