The DAZN Boxing Show discussed Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s skills after he became undisputed super middleweight champion at the weekend.
Canelo knocked Caleb Plant out in the 11th round on Saturday night in Las Vegas as he added the IBF belt to his WBA, WBC and WBO championships.
The 31-year-old Mexican appeared to be fighting within himself for much of the fight before stepping up in the later rounds to bring things to a close.
Akin ‘Ak’ Reyes and Barak Bess discussed the scope of his ability on the DAZN Boxing Show.
“That Canelo was special. Canelo proved that once again in his 60th fight how special he really is,” Barak began.
“I think we can now stop saying he has trouble with boxers. Canelo maybe in 2013 had trouble boxers. Floyd [Mayweather] is Floyd, you know, but if you want to talk about [Erislandy] Lara, yes, he's a different fighter from when he fought Lara. He is a different beast.”
He then explained how Canelo had kept things tight without expending more than essential effort.
“Let me just tell you how good Canelo really is. He hardly threw a jab. And that entire fight, he landed 15 jabs but he hardly threw jabs in that fight,” he said.
“Now there was three rounds where he did not even throw a jab. Not didn't land a jab - didn't even attempt to throw a jab in all three of those rounds of round one, three and five, he was able to land more power shots than Caleb Plant. That shows the skill level of Canelo. He knows how to come in. He knows how to cut the ring off. He knows how to block while coming in, slip punches while coming in and even being on the inside land body shots and slip shots from a skillful and fast boxer. That's how good Canelo is.”
Ak agreed, saying: “He's doing that because he can, because he knows how to get the right distance without having to throw a jab every time. He's not just walking in with his head straight up. He's slipping, catching. And, you know, he's doing what he needs to do to get close to Caleb Plant.”