Home/Boxing

via Getty

via Getty

The P4P king, Saul Alvarez, has several weapons in his boxing arsenal and fans regard him as one of the most complete pugilists of this era. Starting from his defensive skills to knockout abilities, Alvarez can be a terrific force inside the ring.

He might seem a tactical elite who would prefer playing copy book rather than an in-ring brawl. But, Canelo Alvarez can comfortably unleash his violent side, considering the vicious body shots that he lands. The 30-year-old is a hard-hitter and if he connects with full force, there’s no way his opponents aren’t going down.

Boasting off 36 knockouts in 57 fights, Canelo Alvarez has a KO ratio of 63.16%. However, that isn’t an accurate reflection of his power-punching abilities. One needs to look at his few performances to understand how hard Alvarez exactly hits.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Read More | Canelo Alvarez’s Training Partners: Who is the Mexican Boxer Training With?

Canelo Alvarez- The Mexican Power House

To understand the velocity and prowess in Alvarez’s punches, we need to look at a few of his past fights, especially where he has vanquished his opponents brutally. That said, not everyone can get over those shots.

On his first super-middleweight title win against Rocky Fielding in 2018, Alvarez connected cleanly with some dangerous body shots. He stopped Fielding with one of those and the entire world saw it in shock. But, few could decode the secret behind his accurate landings.

The secret behind his power shots is mostly feint jabs. Canelo lands a slow-paced jab to distract his opponents, and once they change their stance and posture to defend those feints, Alvarez lets fly. He did something similar against Amir Khan in 2016, and this KO remains one of the most sensational knockouts of all time in the sport.

However, he hasn’t been able to intimidate everyone with his power. Although Canelo Alvarez vanquished Liam Smith for the WBO super welterweight title in 2016, the Mexican’s power didn’t allure the Brit.

“Canelo didn’t hit as hard as I expected,” said Smith later in an interview.

Read More | Manny Pacquiao vs Terence Crawford: Is It Really the Fight to Make?

So, it raises more doubts about the issue. Maybe Alvarez doesn’t hit that hard as one of his rivals speaks. But considering his impeccable dominance, there’s no denying his power and skills are exceptional. It could even be a combination of the two that makes him so special.

Meanwhile, one also needs to look at his heavy bag training regime to understand more. Canelo Alvarez deploys immense force on his bag strikes during training sessions. Undoubtedly, these punches are committed to muscle memory and he can use them in the ring as a mere reflex action.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

That said, Alvarez has evolved through the years and has aged like a fine wine. If the Mexican superstar continues to do so, we can see more viciousness from him ahead.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Do you think Canelo Alvarez is truly the P4P King?

Read More | What’s Next for Adrien Broner?