Berto: Canelo will KO GGG

Berto: Canelo will KO GGG

Berto: Canelo will KO GGG

Berto: Canelo will KO GGG

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 Andre Berto is picking Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to defeat Gennady “GGG” Golovkin on September 16, and he sees him beating him by a knockout. That’s Berto’s prediction. Berto says that if the fight had taken place 2 years ago, he might have felt differently, but Golovkin is coming off of a performance against Danny Jacobs were he didn’t look so good in Berto’s mind.

Golovkin won the fight, but it was a hard fight and it was close. Berto views Canelo as an improved fighter, and he sees him as an explosive fighter despite the fact that Canelo hasn’t knocked any quality fighters during his career. He’s mainly knocked out guys like Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland, Liam Smith and Amir Khan. Those aren’t considered to be the best of the best in their respective weight classes.

“Maybe if they said that 2 years ago, I’d probably believe that, but I believe Canelo has definitely evolved as a fighter,” said Berto to TMZ.com in responding to a comment about Conor McGregor having a better chance of knocking out Mayweather than Canelo does in stopping Golovkin. ”He looked sharp and explosive. I think he’s going to take it, and I think there’s a good possibility that he’s going to stop Triple G. Triple G didn’t look too well in his last fight,” said Berto.

Two years ago, Golovkin was beating fighters like Martin Murray, Willie Monroe Jr. and David Lemieux. He looked the same as he does now. The only difference was those fighters didn’t rehydrate to 190 lbs. and move around the ring a lot like Golovkin’s recent opponent. Those fighters didn’t use a lot of movement. Jacobs and Kell Brook were constantly moving. In fact, they spoiled their own chances of beating Golovkin by moving so much.

Canelo didn’t knock out his last opponent Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Canelo didn’t look powerful or explosive in that fight. Canelo didn’t look explosive against WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith last September. Canelo knocked Smith out after he got tired. The last time Canelo looked explosive was against Amir Khan in May of 2016. That was a welterweight though, and Canelo was getting out-boxed by Khan. We’re going to find out if Canelo possesses the explosiveness at 160. Contrary to what Berto says, he didn’t have the explosiveness at 154. Canelo only fought 2 good fighters in that division in Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara. Canelo didn’t knockout either of those fighters. The explosiveness wasn’t there in fighting those two.

“As they say, styles make fights,” said Berto in continuing to talk about the Canelo vs. GGG fight. “It’s definitely going to be exciting to watch. I’m giving it to Canelo for a knockout. I said it,” said Berto.

That’s a pretty bold prediction by Berto. Golovkin has never been knocked out or even knocked down as a professional or as an amateur. Canelo hasn’t been knocked down or knocked out either, but he has been hurt. Kirkland buzzed him, Trout and Floyd Mayweather Jr. both had him hurt. We know that Canelo can be hurt.

Berto is already on record saying that he wants to fight the winner of the Canelo vs. Golovkin fight. You have to consider his compliments of Canelo as a possible move to get in good with him so he can get a fight against him if he beats Golovkin. The problem with Berto saying great stuff about Canelo is the fact that it won’t change the outcome of the Canelo-GGG fight. Golovkin isn’t going to lose just because Berto is pouring compliments over Canelo’s head and predicting a knockout win for him. It doesn’t work like that. Canelo will need to come with some power, and he’ll need to put his chin on the line for him to have a chance of knocking Golovkin out. Canelo isn’t going to knock Golovkin out by staying out of range, which he’s already said that he’s going to be doing. Canelo isn’t going to knock Golovkin out by smothering him on the inside. That’s another thing Canelo has said that he wants to. Canelo doesn’t possess the punching power at close range. He needs to be at medium range for him to get a lot on his shots.

“I would definitely lie to fight the winner,” said Berto about the Canelo-Golovkin fight. ”I fought at 160 in the amateurs, so that wouldn’t be too bad.”

Berto, 33, isn’t in a good position for him to fight the winner of the Canelo and Golovkin fight. Berto was stopped in the 9th round by Shawn Porter on April 22 this year. Berto suffered a bad concussion in that fight. Berto has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights. He was beaten by Mayweather in September 2015 by a one-sided 12 round decision. Berto came back from that loss to defeat Victor Ortiz in April of last year, but that wasn’t a win over a top tier welterweight. Ortiz’s career hasn’t been the same since he lost to Mayweather in 2011. Despite all the recent losses, Berto (31-5, 24 KOs) is still rated No.11 by the World Boxing Council. The other sanctioning bodies don’t have Berto rated in their top 15, and for good reason. He’s lost too many fights recently. I think it’s unlikely that the winner of the Canelo vs. Triple G fight is going to want to waste a fight facing Berto.

The Canelo vs. Golovkin winner will almost surely be going after WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders in order to pick up the last title. Golovkin wants the WBO belt. Canelo would go after the title as well, because it’s a winnable fight and an easy payday for Canelo. If Canelo chooses to fight someone like Jermall Charlo or Jacobs, he could be in for a really tough fight that he might not have the size or talent to win.

Most boxing fans seem think that that if Canelo does beat Golovkin, it’ll be by a decision, not by a knockout. Canelo is better off trying to use his boxing skills to beat Golovkin instead of sitting down on his shots and shooting for a knockout. That might get Canelo hurt if he tries to knock him out.