By Sean Jones: Canelo Alvarez will be retiring from boxing at 36 or 37 rather than staying around the sport as long as Gennadiy Golovkin, who just turned 38 on April 8. Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) wants to retire and play golf.
The popular Canelo will be turning 30 on July 18 next year and is already talking retirement. For Canelo to be talking about retirement this early, it suggests that he’s beginning to worry about being beaten by the young lions.
Canelo fought Golovkin after he turned 35
It’s interesting that Canelo wants to retire at 36, as he didn’t fight Golovkin until he turned 35. Some believe that Canelo and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions intentionally waited until Golovkin got old before taking the fight with him.
Likewise, they also believe Canelo did the same with 36-year-old Sergey Kovalev, who he beat last November. People wanted to see Canelo face IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs), but he chose Kovalev. Was that because the Russian fighter Kovalev looked old and past it in his previous match against Anthony Yarde last August, or did Canelo rate him above Beterbiev?
Canelo to retire no later than 37
“My body asks me to fight. I keep training because I love boxing. I train, whether I have a fight or not,” said Canelo to Box Azteca.
“36-years-old, for me, that’s a good time to retire, 37-years-old at the max. I always have discipline, work ethic, and dedication. The only thing that has changed is my successes, I train every day as if I was a rookie.
“I’ll dedicate myself to my business and playing golf every day,” said Canelo.
There’s a high chance that Canelo will retire a lot sooner than 36 or 37. Right now, many fans believe that Canelo is calculated with the way he’s fighting certain guys. He’s not taking on the risky fighters like Artur Beterbiev, David Benavidez, Callum Smith, or Jermall Charlo. Further, he’d forced Golovkin to wait for his trilogy match after being involved in two controversial fights against him in the past.
When it gets to the point where Canelo is forced to fight the best, will he retire after he starts losing? There’s a very real chance that happens with Canelo, and wells short of him turning 36. Canelo is the type of fighter that matured early. Those type of guys generally don’t last long. Once they hit their early 30s, they’re shot, and they start losing unless matched carefully.
Ward says Kovalev was “calculated risk” for Canelo
“Not a little bit,” said Andre Ward when asked if Sergey Kovalev has diminished a little bit.’ “I didn’t see anything in the Yard fight where I said, ‘That’s why I didn’t see the power.’ Kovalev had opportunities, but he didn’t respond to what [trainer] Buddy McGirt was telling him to do.
“Buddy was telling Kovalev to box, but when have you seen him going away from a guy and looking feeble like that. He just looked old. We give Canelo credit [for facing Kovalev]. It’s a calculated risk. Facing Artur Beterbiev would be a stupid risk [for Canelo],” said Ward.
While some view Canelo’s decision to face former WBO light heavyweight champion Kovalev as a brave move, others point out that he had looked dreadful in his previous fight against Yarde. This wasn’t ‘The Krusher’ Kovalev from 2012 that Canelo fought last November. This was a worn, faded fighter, whose power, stamina and punch resistance was no longer there.
As Andre Ward states, Canelo took a “calculated risk” in facing Kovalev at 175. Calculated means that Canelo carefully weighed the pros and cons of facing Kovalev before choosing to fight him. On the flipside, Ward says it would have been a “stupid risk” if Canelo had decided to meet Artur Beterbiev, who is viewed as the #1 fighter at 175. That’s a fight that would have potentially blown up in Canelo’s face if he’d taken it.
Why didn’t Canelo fight Beterbiev?
Beterbiev has looked like pure dynamite recently with his knockout wins over Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Radivoje Kalajdzic.
Could Canelo have done to Beterbiev what he did to Kovalev or would have been left on the canvas in a pile of rubble in five or six rounds like we saw in the Russian KO artist’s win over Kalajdzic? Ward said, “Canelo will never take that fight” in talking about Beterbiev.
Canelo has one loss on his 53-1 record, and that came against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013.