Will it hurt Canelo's legacy and reputation if he doesn't dominate GGG at 40?

[GolovKing]

How strong of a performance do you think Canelo has to put on for this to boost his legacy and reputation as a boxing legend?

 

[Hagler]

If he has a hard time beating Golovkin his fans will claim GGG was formidable and his detractors will say 1/ this is a work and 2/ he is overrated.

If he wins easily his fans will claim he's an ATG and his detractors will complain about how much GGG was shot.

I doubt there's any kind of consensus after this one. To me 2022 Golovkin is a top 10 win on a resume that is pretty stacked already, hence a nice feather on his cap, but it's not a carrer defining win. 2018 GGG was. It wouldn't boost his reputation, it would keep it at a pretty hich level.

 

[LEWIS540]

No.

 

[Nova44]

I think it will hurt Canelo's legacy if he loses to Bivol and then GGG back to back. If he wins nothing will change.

 

[Seano]

No, they've fought competitive fights both times they've fought, this one will be close too.

I mean, whats different? Has Golovkin been KO'd a bunch of times since?Has he lost a bunch of fights? No, since the last fight, he's gone 4-0 with 3 KOs against legitimate opponents.

Canelo lost his last fight and looked flat doing it.

 

[stuff jones]

You mean after ducking him for years, getting gifted decision/s and then waiting him out till he was 40? Not soundly beating GGG wouldn't rank highly among things hurting his legacy...

 

[Roids]

Struggling to beat a 40 year old middle weight? It should hurt his legacy but the fan boys will always find excuses. He needs to put a beating on GGG and win decisively.

 

[UnicornNinjas]

Depends, if he has competitive rounds but wins clearly then no. If he struggles and it goes to a shaky decision, I think it takes some of the shine off. You can argue that GGG has been winning against solid opposition but watching those fights it's evident that he's not the Golovkin of old. Meanwhile Canelo is around that age where his physical and mental primes should be coalescing. Their careers are on inverse trajectories at the moment and that should bear out in the result.

 

[CatchnShoot]

I am expecting the best fight of the three.
I am hoping GGG wins, but I will be surprised if it isn't a close back and forth fight.
Both men are greats IMO, they SHOULD be giving each other hell.
If you expect Canelo to go and blast GGG out of there, or vice versa, you are clueless. Not saying that CAN'T happen, but nobody should expect it, because it's extremely unlikely.

 

[Cariñito]

It's gonna be a UD. Canelo 116-112, 116-112, 115-113.
That's what I think the judges will have it.

 

[bjl12]

How strong of a performance do you think Canelo has to put on for this to boost his legacy and reputation as a boxing legend?

Canelo is eerily similar to DLH. In a TON of good, great, and excellent fights but has his fair share of controversy and mulled performances. Canelo will likely be a fringe legend/ATG when its all said and done.

As far as the fight, anything less than a stoppage victory demonstrates a decline. GGG is locked in here too and his boxing is criminally underrated but he's never had good defense and everything about him looked bad against Murata. He was slower, less reactive, his body seemed more responsive to punches, and his power even looked a little less. Oh and GGG is moving up in weight and fricking 40 years old...

If Canelo can't absolutely wipe GGG I'd be hesitant to sign him to a long-term promotional contract.

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

He needs to dominate. GGG got robbed in the first fight. 2nd was close but I still had GGG winning that one by a more narrow margin. Canelo has to finish GGG or completely dominate.

 

[ledonk]

This reminds me of Hopkins vs. RJJR. It does nothing for his legacy in my opinion.

 

[Boxiana]

GGG is a unified MW champ who holds the record for the most title defenses and is still ranked number one by Ring. He has one loss on his record, and stopped a game opponent in his last fight.

He would be a signature win for any MW or SMW at this point, so why should Canelo have to dominate him? Any credible win against GGG is a very, very good win.

 

[r-harper-1]

Hate this fight …. GGG got screwed the first fight ….2nd fight competitive…….Then Canelo waits until GGG is old and fights him ….hoping GGG lands a perfect punch

 

[GolovKing]

Canelo is eerily similar to DLH. In a TON of good, great, and excellent fights but has his fair share of controversy and mulled performances. Canelo will likely be a fringe legend/ATG when its all said and done.

As far as the fight, anything less than a stoppage victory demonstrates a decline. GGG is locked in here too and his boxing is criminally underrated but he's never had good defense and everything about him looked bad against Murata. He was slower, less reactive, his body seemed more responsive to punches, and his power even looked a little less. Oh and GGG is moving up in weight and fricking 40 years old...

If Canelo can't absolutely wipe GGG I'd be hesitant to sign him to a long-term promotional contract.

I'd say the worst GGG has looked post canelo was against deryvchenko and his best performances were probably the last two fights. But still I would say Canelo needs to at least dominate GGG but not necessarily stop him but if he does it looks even better. If he manages to stop GGG late after a back and forth war then that may not be necessarily the most impressive thing either

 

[GolovKing]

Hate this fight …. GGG got screwed the first fight ….2nd fight competitive…….Then Canelo waits until GGG is old and fights him ….hoping GGG lands a perfect punch

Honestly I'm pretty sure GGG is going to look less for the knockout in this fight than he did the first two. His strategy with Jonathan banks will probably be to box more and that's what they have alluded to in their interviews unless they are playing 3d chess

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Of course not, it's one fight. Hell win, and By rights he should win comfortably as ggg is a shadow of his former self. You very rarely see top level fighters at that age, outside of the HWs. Tbh this is an awful fight

 

[bjl12]

Honestly I'm pretty sure GGG is going to look less for the knockout in this fight than he did the first two. His strategy with Jonathan banks will probably be to box more and that's what they have alluded to in their interviews unless they are playing 3d chess

Bivol just laid out another blueprint. Can GGG repeat it? Its not like Gennady has to do much different as fights 1 and 2 were razor close

 

[KAZSoliloquy]

i don’t think it matters much tbh as long as canelo dominates every other fighter the way he has, closer fights with GGG will just make GGG look better