Freddie Roach thinks Canelo Alvarez is past his best
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach believes that Saul Canelo Alvarez has regressed since his first two wars with Gennady Golovkin, as the Mexican now weighs up his future options.
Canelo (60-2-2, 39 KOs) announced that his next fight will be on May 4 – in time for Mexican independence day – but Roach, suspecting that the 33-year-old’s best days are behind him, is not expecting a career-defining performance.
In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Roach said: “Canelo has never been the same after the first two wars with Triple-G.
“Since those fights, and moving up in weight, I don’t think he’s been as good.
“He’s a little slower and it seems that it’s a little harder for him to make it through the championship rounds.
“To me, the middleweight Canelo was the best Canelo.”
The epic trilogy was closely fought in the first two bouts, many still believe that Triple G was the clear winner in fight one, which ended as a draw in 2017, then the Mexican was awarded a majority draw in their 2018 rematch. Their trilogy decider in 2022 was a clear victory to Alvarez, however.
It is likely that the four-weight world champion’s next fight will be against Jermall Charlo – the twin brother of Canelo’s previous opponent, who he dominated enroute to a 12-round unanimous decision last September.
Charlo (33-0, 22 KOs) comes off a 10-round unanimous decision win over Jose Benavidez Jr, in a fight where he weighed in at a career-high 166 lbs.
After making several defences of his WBC world middleweight title, it seems that the American has made the step up to 168 lbs, though is still a few pounds shy of the limit.
The speculation that Canelo may face Charlo, as opposed to David Benavidez or Jaime Munguia, has led many fans to question his intent at this level, with the 33-year-old saying that he will not fight a fellow Mexican.
Rumours that he could face pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford have also been suppressed, as Canelo has dismissed a potential matchup against the undisputed welterweight champion.