Known for his controversial stance on several different topics, rapper Glasses Malone has never been one to bite his tongue no matter the subject. Being an avid boxing fan, Malone will be sharing some of his unpopular and sometimes controversial opinions about the sport with our readers. They may not be popular, but he guarantees to back them with facts!
GLASSES MALONE ON CANELO ALVAREZ VS. GENNADY GOLOVKIN:
Alright, it's simple...Gennady "Triple G" Golovkin does not have a Hall of Fame win. Danny Jacobs would have to go on to do some really tremendous things, so as of now, he has zero Hall of Famers on his resume. He has a decent knockout streak, but I don't know if knockouts get you in the Hall of Fame. Tying Bernard Hopkins' middleweight record might get you into the Hall of Fame. Unifying the division with Billy Joe Saunders, grabbing that last belt, and getting two more wins to tie that record will make a strong case for him getting his ticket stamped into the Hall of Fame. Fighting Canelo in September, however...Canelo is all wrong for Triple G. Canelo has really quick hands, really great reaction time, and he's really good in exchanges. Everybody that thinks Triple G is going to knock Canelo out has another thing coming. It's just not going to happen like that. I'm not just saying this based on how Triple G looked against Danny Jacobs; I have been saying Canelo is all wrong for Triple G for 3 years now.
Triple G is technically superior, he has great experience and great power, but his main weakness, he is slow. He is so slow at the elite level. Danny Jacobs was watching punches go by. Don't get me wrong, his technical ability allowed him to catch him with that good shot and he caught Jacobs in the middle of switching to southpaw. But I even told everybody before that fight that he was going to floor Danny Jacobs and Danny Jacobs was going to get up and finish the fight. Canelo is lightening quick in those exchanges at the elite level. The only guy who was able to avoid his shots in those exchanges is Floyd Mayweather, the best fighter ever. I think if Triple G gets in there with Canelo, Canelo shuts you out and embarrasses you on the big stage if you fight him in September while you were on a quest to tie Bernard Hopkins' record, and then I think it might be a struggle to get in [The Hall of Fame]. I don't know if it's a Hall of Fame situation for second place. I think Triple G should be focused on getting into the Hall of Fame and that's by tying Bernard's middleweight title defenses and unifying the division. I think Canelo is just a bad idea. I think Canelo got his number.
The only way Triple G can stamp his Hall of Fame card is to avoid Canelo for now. Fight him in May! I wouldn't wait on Canelo. The thing that makes this opinion unpopular is the rush that everybody wants to see this fight right now. I'm not going to lie, Triple G beating Danny Jacobs solidifies him for me. He's an elite fighter. He finally beat somebody that was worthy and his conditioning showed me he was elite because his conditioning was superior for a 12-round fight. I was like, "Okay, this guy is legit." Now he's got a chance to unify the division by fighting Billy Joe Saunders, which is another rough fight. Everybody thinks he's going to knock out Saunders. Let that whole idea of Triple G knocking out people go because at this point, he's got to fight legit fighters. You're not fighting these guys that were delivering pizza the other day. You have to fight guys that fight full-time and are at the elite level. I would focus on the Saunders fight for September and then tie Bernard's record and then you fight Canelo. But if you try to go through Canelo first before that record is tied, Canelo is going to win that fight. I just don't think there would be a Hall of Fame place for second place when he doesn't have a Hall of Fame win.
You look at guys like Marvin Hagler, who was a phenomenal middleweight. This is probably going to hurt people more, but Triple G is not a phenomenal middleweight; not when you got guys like Roy Jones, who became a heavyweight champion, James Toney, who became a cruiserweight and heavyweight champion, and Marvin Hagler, who was the best fighter in the world pound-for-pound during his prime. We don't even have to go back to the Carlos Monzon's. Those were phenomenal middleweights. You're chasing these kinds of guys. Really, your best chance, because you don't have a strong resume of opponents, is by tying or beating the middleweight defense record. And then do you really want to lose to Canelo and then jump up to 168? Do you want to sit around and wait on Jermall Charlo to see how legit he is at middleweight? That could be another kryptonite for you. You thought Jacobs was big, wait until they see Jermall Charlo at middleweight. And lets be honest, Triple G said himself his focus was to tie Hopkins' record and unify the division. I think that should be where his focus remains. Something else people have to consider is this, Triple G don't have the years and years of reigning supreme on top of the middleweight division like a Wladimir Klitschko or somebody where it's like almost 10 years. He has a good count of defenses and a lot of knockouts...I think Canelo would be in his way and he'll derail his Hall of Fame hopes.
The Jacobs fight was a credible fight for him. I think Danny Jacobs' conditioning cost him that fight. That's when you seen just how elite their abilities are. I think Jacobs had the size and athletic advantage and Triple G had the skills and power advantage and then it became who was better conditioned for the fight and that's where the fight was decided. You don't see a lot of fighters fighting 12 rounds in great condition. That's Floyd Mayweather, that's Manny Pacquiao and Andre Ward; all-time greats shit. He's an elite fighter, but Danny Jacobs is your best win and Danny Jacobs' best win is cancer. No disrespect to none of the opponents he's fought, he fought some cool guys, but his best win is cancer. That's what you sold to the public, that he beat cancer. You didn't sell any of his opponents that he defeated during the build up of the fight. You sold the fact that he overcame cancer. Knockouts are more of entertainment than it is Hall of Fame ballot stuffer. So, when it's all said and done, I think you avoid Canelo, focus on what you said your goal was, unify and tie or break Hopkins' record, and then fight Canelo in May or next September because we know Canelo is only fighting in May and September.
[ Follow Glasses Malone on Twitter @gmalone ]