By Norm Frauenheim –
Microphones become megaphones. Humble turns to hype. If noise is a way to measure a fight, Canelo Alvarez-Jermell Charlo is a biggie.
Opening bell is still a couple of weeks away, but the talk got a lot louder this week at media workouts, first with Charlo at home in Houston and then Canelo at altitude near Lake Tahoe.
Charlo turned it up a decibel or ten, saying that a victory over the favored Canelo on Sept. 30 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Showtime pay-per-view would ensure him of a place alongside the greats.
“If I accomplish this massive goal, it’ll be hard to top,’’ Charlo said on the live-stream. “I’ll be in the record book with the greats of boxing for a long time.”
Move over Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler. Make room for a fifth King.
Charlo, undisputed champion at junior-middleweight, has never been shy, of course. He argues he’s already done enough to be in the Hall of Fame. I guess that means Dmitry Bivol is already in that book of greats and enshrined in the Canastota Hall. I mean, didn’t Bivol beat Canelo about 17 months ago?
In 21 fights, Bivol is unbeaten. In 37 bouts, Charlo has one loss and a draw. Bivol, a light heavyweight, can’t call himself undisputed, a claim defined by a so-called four-belt era. But who knows when four belts become five belts, then six belts? Belts, all attached to sanctioning fees, are like dollars. They’re inflationary.
Amid Charlo’s hyper-ventilating, however, there was a reflective moment.
“I would’ve fought Canelo years ago, and it probably wouldn’t have been as big as it is now,’’ he said.
The bout, at super-middleweight, is magnified in all ways by Canelo, undisputed at 168 pounds. There’s everything and everyone that the Mexican star and reigning pay-per-view draw brings to the ring. Now, there’s more. There’s evidence of a decline in Canelo’s career. It’s no secret
It’s a decline that started with – and because of — Bivol. Forgettable victories over Gennadiy Golovkin in a second rematch and journeyman John Ryder followed. Each of those only raised more questions.
It all adds up to adversity Canelo hasn’t faced since his loss to Floyd Mayweather a decade ago. On Thursday, Mayweather’s scorecard victory happened exactly 10 years ago — Sept. 14 2013.
The Mayweather loss, however, happened when Canelo was young, 23. He isn’t anymore. He’s 33, a primetime age that really doesn’t reflect the punishment he’s endured. It’s been inevitable. Cumulative, too.
I thought of Canelo when I saw Aaron Rodgers tumble onto the turf Monday night with a torn Achilles tendon after only four snaps as the New York Jets new quarterback and long-awaited savior.
The 39-year-old Rodgers is a 17-year NFL veteran. Canelo, six years younger, has been boxing professionally for 18 years. Despite their difference in age, Rodgers and Canelo are old men on the career clocks that measure wear and tear in two dangerous sports.
At the moment of Rodgers’ injury, it almost looked incidental. But it wasn’t. It was potentially career ending, a symptom of the vulnerability almost built into the end of any long run. Only Father Time is unbeaten.
Time, more than Charlo, looks to be Canelo’s real challenge. He’s under contract with PBC for two more fights after Sept. 30.
He says he might fight until he’s 37. At camp Wednesday, he sounded like the vintage Canelo, the fighter who always arms himself with motivation that comes more from alleged insults than accurate punches.
Canelo said he remembers how Jermell and his twin brother, Jermall, questioned his ring skill about five years ago. He said this fight is a chance to prove them wrong.
“I never forget, no,’’ Canelo said.
Never is one thing Canelo and time have in common. It never stops.
