Oscar De La Hoya feels that the key to Jermell Charlo beating Canelo Alvarez on September 30th is to use the same style that Dmitry Bivol employed against the Mexican star last year by staying at the stance, using his feet, jabbing & throwing combinations.
(Photo credit: Andrew Hemingway/SHOWTIME)
De La Hoya says Canelo’s feet are like “quicksand,” and he can’t move around the ring fast enough to handle fighters with mobility like Bivol.
Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) showed good movement in his rematch with Brian Castano last year, and that played a big factor in his eventual knockout victory in that fight.
Movement-wise, Jermell has the mobility to duplicate Bivol’s style, but what he doesn’t have is the combination punching or the size. Although Jermell is the same height as Bivol, he’s not as heavy as him, and his defense is nowhere near as good.
It’s probably unrealistic to try and get Jermell to follow the Bivol blueprint to beat Canelo because he’s not as talented as him and has never shown Bivol-esque type ability during his career.
“I did hear Charlo’s trainer say that he has to go to the body. That’s something he can take advantage of absolutely, but the style that you give to Canelo that is similar to a Bivol, he’s going to have trouble with,” said Oscar De La Hoya to Fight Hub TV.
Going to the body would be risky for Jermell because he’ll get countered by Canelo, and possibly get knocked out. The reason that past Canelo opponents, Gennadiy Golovkin, Bivol & Miguel Cotto didn’t attack his body was because it was too risky.
“Anyone who stays on their toes, flicks a job in front of his face, anyone that knows how to keep the distance just like Bivol did, Canelo will have trouble because the bottom line is he walks on quicksand. That’s just what he is,” said De La Hoya.
Bivol had a lot of success with his in & out fighting style, throwing combinations at Canelo and then moving to the outside. Jermell should try to follow that blueprint if possible.
“It’s worked for him all these years. He’s become accustomed to knocking his opponents out, walking them down with a lot of power, but anyone that tries to box him and have that same style as Bivol, he’s going to have trouble with,” said De La Hoya.
“I don’t know because Canelo puts a lot of pressure. He can take advantage of it, Charlo, if he knows how to use his distance. The distance you get with your feet, the distance you utilize with your jab.
“If you know how to combine your distance with your footwork,
right hand, and combinations, then it’s the perfect style to win the fight against Canelo,” said Oscar.
Jermell is obviously going to try and follow the Bivol attacking style, but it’s questionable whether he’ll be able to maintain the game plan for the entire fight without slipping into his normal fighting style.
“He should,” said De La Hoya when asked if Jermell can beat Canelo. “A good little man will never beat a good big man. Charlo is elite. Canelo is elite,” said De La Hoya.
