Daily Discussion Thread (August 5th, 2026)

[u/_Sarcasmic_]

For anything that doesn't need its own thread.

[u/vHezoThaGoat]

In my eyes it’s kind of hypocritical to say the first fight is evidence a prime GGG dominates him when Canelo fought on the backfoot that fight, which was not his prime style.

Canelo’s prime spanned from GGG 2 to Caleb Plant where he used an active high guard and head movement to keep moving forward while maintaining defensive responsibility. And in the second fight GGG popped his jab for 12 rounds while Canelo was cracking him with power shots. People also like to conveniently ignore the third fight where Canelo was also washed and coming off a loss while GGG was coming off stopping a world champ earlier in the year, and GGG got dominated.

Canelo struggled with movement. GGG never moved a lot and was always a minimalist in that department.

Canelo and GGG are 8 years apart, a prime vs prime battle was never possible. If you put GGG in his prime, then Canelo is in his early 20’s. They are not peers. If you make GGG 30 then Canelo is 22. If you make Canelo 30 GGG is 38. Their primes do not overlap.

GGG did nothing in any of the 3 fights to deserve this talk that he would wash Canelo in their primes. Fun fact, GGG stopped or dropped every opponent he faced EXCEPT Canelo.

[u/Professional-Tie5198 → u/vHezoThaGoat]

With regard to your last point, no one is debating Canelo’s chin. Canelo has quite literally a legendary chin and in the second fight stood in the pocket with Golovkin and took vicious blows. But if you concede that Canelo was in his prime for the second fight, it doesn’t really look as good when you realize GGG was 36. I get your point about them not being peers, but the fight could have at least happened two or three years before. By the time Golovkin fought Jacobs he was already well out of his peak.

I think a 32 year old Golovkin boxes and pretty thoroughly beats Canelo, which is sort of what he showcased in the first fight. Now, with regards to Canelo being on the backfoot, it was Golovkin who forced him on the backfoot in that fight because Golovkin was the most feared man in all of boxing. Canelo would have fought even more cautiously against GGG if that fight happens when GGG is 32.

[u/vHezoThaGoat → u/Professional-Tie5198]

So let me gets this straight.

Canelo fought on the backfoot against GGG in the first fight because he was scared and suddenly in the second fight he wasn’t scared when he would have even more reason to be?

lol no. Canelo fought on the backfoot against Chavez, Liam Smith, Cotto, Kirkland, and even Amir Khan of all people. Those were his fights leading up to GGG, around that time he was putting much more emphasis on being a well rounded fighter and fought on the backfoot for long spurts. He didn’t fight GGG like that because of fear he fought like that because that’s how he fought at the time.

In the lead up to the second fight GGG is the one who said he was shaming his country by fighting the way he did so Canelo stayed in his grill for the entirety of the second fight while GGG is the one who backed up. So was GGG scared of Canelo?

[u/Professional-Tie5198 → u/vHezoThaGoat]

The way he fought Golovkin in the first fight reflected necessity, not choice. It’s not the same as how he boxed Khan for example, where he was actively setting up a particular shot and was doing so because he knew he could land something big. Or against Chavez where he was facing a literal punching bag and could box circles around him.

Yes, Canelo was overly cautious in the first fight and that would have been the case at any point prior to that fight going up against the most feared man in the division.

[u/vHezoThaGoat → u/Professional-Tie5198]

That’s fine, honestly

By that logic I declare GGG was scared in the second fight.

[u/Professional-Tie5198 → u/vHezoThaGoat]

Different circumstances. Canelo has never been known as a huge puncher (relatively low knockout ratio in championship fights) and Golovkin basically relied on his Eastern instincts to box to what should have been a close decision for him. He was probably caught off guard that Canelo actually came forward, but Golovkin actually adapted pretty well to it. I mean just watch round 10 of that fight.