Canelo Alvarez could be at risk of losing if he moves up to 175 and takes on IBF/WBC light welterweight champion Artur Beterbiev, says Carl Froch. He views the undefeated Beterbiev (17-0, 17 KOs) as a “threat” to Canelo should he choose to face him in 2022.
Beterbiev is rugged, powerful, and a devastating body puncher. Canelo hasn’t gone up against anyone that throws to the body the way that Beterbiev does during his career, and he may not be able to handle it.
Canelo’s specialty is using head and upper body movement to avoid headshots. But against Beterbiev, he would be dealing with a body puncher, and it may not end well for him.
Beterbiev can beat Canelo
“When Canelo stepped up to light-heavyweight, he picked his opponent wisely in Sergey Kovalev, who is nearing the closing stages of his career,” Froch said to Sky Sports.
“But Artur Beterbiev stands a good chance of beating Canelo in a really good fight. I don’t think it will be one-sided because Beterbiev is a strong, light-heavyweight, he’s the No 1 in the division, and a genuine threat.”
All the defensive moves that Canelo copied from Floyd Mayweather Jr. to avoid getting nailed with headshots won’t help him against Beterbiev.
Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) isn’t expected to go straight to 175 for his next fight, not unless Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn can persuade him to go in that direction.
Hearn feels that Canelo has a better chance of doing something special in terms of creating history if he defeats the three light heavyweight champions in 2022 to become the undisputed champ in that division.
Thus far, Canelo and his trainer/manager Eddy Reynoso are aiming lower, wanting to go up to cruiserweight in an attempt to become a 5-division world champion by beating WBC belt-holder Ilunga Makabu next May.
175-pounders are a threat to Canelo
“Any of the top fighters at light-heavyweight could be a threat to Canelo and certainly at cruiserweight,” said Froch.
“I do think Usyk would beat Canelo. He’s too big and too good for him.”
Canelo has only had one fight at light heavyweight, which was against the old and shot Sergey Kovalev in 2019. The then 36-year-0ld Kovalev was a poor representative of the 175-lb division at that point in his career.
If Canelo chooses to try and become the undisputed champion at light heavyweight, he’ll need to go through this murderer’s row of killers:
- Artur Beterbiev
- Dmitry Bivol
- Joe Smith Jr
The wheels could come off the Canelo express against any of those three champions, particularly against Beterbiev with his body punching.
When you’ve got a guy that is capable of throwing to the body like Beterbiev, he’s going to take Canelo’s legs away almost immediately, forcing him to fight with his back against the ropes as he did in his controversial win over Austin Trout.
If you saw the Canelo-Trout fight, Trout hurt Canelo with a body shot in the seventh, and from that point on, Canelo fought with his back against the ropes, using them for support because his legs were gone.
In Beterbiev’s title defense last week on December 17th, he took challenger Marcus Browne’s legs away in the fifth round with his body shots.
Browne fought with his back against the ropes for the remainder of the fight, his legs gone from the vicious body punching that Beterbiev had done.