Canelo’s Mount Rushmore Dream Crumbles Under Calzaghe

Joe Calzaghe says he doesn’t believe Canelo Alvarez belongs among the all-time greats in boxing. He points out that the defeats that Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) has had when stepping it up against good fighters, along with his controversial win over Gennadiy Golovkin, make him unworthy of being viewed as an all-time great in his book.

Spine Check: Canelo Doesn’t Pass It

The absence of a spine that Canelo showed by choosing not to fight David Benavidez is enough to exclude him from the all-time list. Choosing not to fight ‘The Mexican Monster,’ David Morrell or Christian Mbilli showed fans that inside, Canelo is pure jelly and not worthy of sitting among the all-time greats on the Mount Rushmore of boxing.

The 35-year-old Canelo is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision loss to 154-pounder Terence Crawford on September 13th in their ‘Fight of the Century’ in Las Vegas. It was a similar poor performance that Canelo had turned in when he fought William Scull earlier this year on May 3rd, but this time, the judges didn’t give him a decision.

Many boxing fans would agree with the retired 53-year-old former two-division world champion Calzaghe that Canelo has not done enough to be included among the all-time greats. Although he defeated many notable fighters, many of them were past their prime when he fought them. Also, Alvarez had questionable wins over these three:

• Gennadiy Golovkin 1 & 2
• Erislandy Lara
• William Scull
• Austin Trout

The Harsh Mount Rushmore Reality

If we’re talking about the Mount Rushmore of boxing status, Canelo doesn’t rate in Calzaghe’s mind to be included. However, if we want to broaden the brush to include others, Terence Crawford doesn’t rate being an all-time great either because his resume is too weak. Capturing division titles against faded fighters is meaningful.

The Mount Rushmore all-time greats

1. Sugar Ray Robinson
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Henry Armstrong
4. Joe Louis

“I wouldn’t put him as an all-time great, because he lost his biggest fights,” said Joe Calzaghe to BoxingScene, talking about Canelo Alvarez not being rated as an all-time great. “He’s still a great fighter. He’s had some great wins, but against the top fighters, he’s lost, hasn’t he?

“He lost to Mayweather. I thought he definitely lost one of the Golovkin fights. He’s had a great career. If you keep fighting and fighting, you’re going to lose. Father Time catches up to everybody. I just hope he doesn’t go on too long and get beaten by mediocre fighters,” said Calzaghe about Canelo.

Canelo’s Best Wins

• Gennadiy Golovkin II – * Questionable
• Sergey Kovalev
• Caleb Plant
• Billy Joe Saunders
• Miguel Cotto
• Daniel Jacobs
• Callum Smith
• Erislandy Lara – * Questionable
• Shane Mosley
• Austin Trout – Close

Too Many Faded Foes, Not Enough Risks

Those wins weren’t good enough for Canelo to be included in the prestigious all-time great country club. For Canelo to have been included, he would have needed to show a spine by fighting Benavidez, Beterbiev, Jaron Ennis, and Christian Mbilli.

Subpar Performances

• Floyd Mayweather Jr.
• Dmitry Bivol
• Gennadiy Golovkin I & II
• Erislandy Lara 
• William Scull
• Terence Crawford