The Winner and Why
AP Photo/Eric Gray
As entertaining as I believe this fight will be, I hardly think it will be an even match. Canelo Alvarez has a way of giving the fans the excitement they want to see while putting on a decisive performance. James Kirkland cannot be overlooked because of his power, but Canelo has him beat in enough categories to win decisively.
I found that watching each of their fights against Alfredo Angulo was very telling about their styles as fighters and how they would perform against each other. Kirkland vs. Angulo was interesting because the two of them are so similar—both powerful, slow punchers that never give up. Canelo vs. Angulo showed that Canelo could easily outbox, outwork, and outclass someone with Kirkland’s fighting style.
All fighters have their own style, and many of them never change over the course of their careers. I find that ironically, many natural fighters or brawlers underestimate the value of boxing. They think about punching hard, fast, being aggressive and coming forward, but even in a fight you can still fight smart, which is where boxing comes in. Canelo has this exact factor, where even if him and Kirkland were evenly matched across all categories, his IQ would allow him to come out on top.
