Boxing Live Chat: Canelo vs. Yildirim

And that's it for us folks. Thanks for joining us! Till next time.

Good night everybody!

The best need to fight the best!

Boxing isn't dead, but it does need a good jolt.

Final thought: Canelo is best boxer in world. Thank you all for having me on as well. Goodnight

Thanks for having me on, guys.

That does without saying, Roberto.

Good night Dylan. No boxing is dead, before you go?

Yep, time to wrap this up. Great chat. Albert and Roberto, any final thoughts?

Good night Dylan!

Alright, folks, I have to entertain my children. It's been fun. Until next time.

Tailor*

Not major, unless Berlanga develops substantially. Berlanga is taylor made to get countered by Canelo

Benavidez has the power and length to land some nasty stuff on Canelo.

Do you guys see Edgar Berlanga being a major rival for Canelo 3 to 5 years down the line?

Charlo at 168, I think possess particular problems for Canelo because of movement. Benavidez, because of style and intelligence.

I think Canelo handles Saunders and Caleb Plant fairly easily.

Jermall*

The guy is only 30, at 30 Chavez was ready to go.

yes. I think those boxers are David Benavidez and Jarmall Charlo at 168

And could run into another major threat that can help his legacy.

But he still is young.

That's really what hurts Canelo's legacy when trying to pass Chavez as best Mexican boxer ever

In talking about GGG fight, by the way.

He, or Golden Boy, delayed fight for year and half. Then tested positive for banned substance before rematch. And arguably lost both fights.

If he would have beaten Mayweather fairly, he moves up to the top two spots.

should say big IF

I think Mayweather fight is forgiveable because he wasn't going to beat him. It's the GGG fights that alter the conversation.

I mean, then he's a totally different fighter

Chavez wasn’t a mindless brawler, he was good at cutting off the ring and setting up his punches, but Canelo just operates in a more efficient manner.

Beaten or drawn Mayweather? Hahahahaha

If Canelo had beaten or drawn with Mayweather, how different would this conversation be?

I miss the XFL and we need more boxing on Sundays

Anyone who thinks Chavez mindlessly wandered forward is selling him way short.

I should say that Canelo's adversity was GGG. Both fights were close, arguable decisions in both.

Canelo doesn’t take the punishment Chavez did, he has developed into a hell of counter puncher, just like Juan Manuel Marquez.

Yeah, he was a ready made star.

What made others legends was facing adversity. Canelo really hasn't had that. Part of that isn't his fault.

I am going to say it again, Canelo is elite but his efficient and intelligent style just does not make the fans go crazy.

Chavez was a monster, man. Relentless, highly underrated ring IQ.

Canelo may only fight his entire career, being underdog once. Against Mayweather. That's part of reason he isn't thoroughly embraced by Mexican crowd, I think.

But in terms of the intangibles, I don't think he will ever be in the Top 5.

This isn't about resume. Salvador Sanchez died at 23. Part of this is an eye test.

If Canelo picks up one more or two signature wins, I think he can very well surpass Chavez in the pantheon of Mexican greats.

His main argument is resume. But that isn't what made Chavez great, alone. It was a specific era of Mexican and Mexican Americans that added to Chavez becoming a national hero

Mannix is missing the context of who Chavez was and era in which he fought.

For as hard a time as we gave Sergio Mora earlier on, his response to Chris Mannix's claim that Canelo could become the Mexican GOAT was pretty funny—"Well you're not Mexican."

I also see it going the distance, and I see it possibly having a disputed ending like Canelo vs. Lara in 2014.

I think Canelo vs. Saunders goes distance. Canelo wins fairly easily. A fight that will be very much like Canelo vs. Jacobs.

Eddie Reynoso has likely solidified best trainer in world. And that has before tonight, since this wasn't much of a fight.

What are your early predictions for Canelo vs. Saunders?

Overall, it was good to watch Canelo fight. Any top boxer that fights more than once or twice a year, will have to fight a few soft touches.

There's no way Canelo hasn't scouted Andy Ruiz, who trains alongside him. Of course, Ruiz doesn't have title. But I think Canelo has wondered.

Eddie's stable is the NWO of boxing, that is why!

No chance; if you move up that much, you better have footspeed. Jones had it, Canelo doesn't.

If Canelo were to have a juicy opportunity for a heavyweight title like the one Roy Jones had against the tame John Ruiz, do you think he goes up to heavy?

I'm going to thoroughly enjoy watching Canelo beat Saunders, who is really dislikable person

's boxers are getting so many tatts

We need an investigation on why Eddie Reynoso

Yea, 168 is it for him.

I don't think Canelo Alvarez understood that "peaking" question

I think he stays put at 168, his frame is too small to take on the legit threats at 175.

Here's that knockdown from DAZN's twitter account

Canelo might be most lethal fighter in world and he's 5'7"

WBC likes to give out a lot of stuff, they are like Oprah.

Canelo with the leather swap meet hat

Pretty much a participation medal that the WBC gives out.

Canelo with that Mexican dad combo of tacky t shirt and hat.

Canelo’s next two big fights should be against Saunders and Plant, he said he wants to unify the 168 division.

I should wear a medal after I don't win a Pulitzer this year.

I was about to ask the same thing

Why is Yildirim wearing a medal?

Hilarious listening to Mora criticize Yildirim. This isn't Yildirim's fault. He is who he is. This is on the WBC.

Benavidez, by the way, is Mexican American from Phoenix. Young, aggresive, naturally bigger, and intelligent.

Well that was a solid workout for Canelo, hopefully now he moves on to Saunders.

Canelo has said he won't fight Mexican boxers. I wonder if that includes ethnicity. Because that would exclude David Benavidez, who I think is one of few boxers that can actually challenge Canelo.

Final numbers - fight lasts 9 minutes. Entrance walk was 7 minutes 12 seconds

Good job by Joel Diaz to protect his boxer, unlike what we saw last week from another corner

In a sense, it's good that these fights are on DAZN. Beats paying $100 for a PPV fight

Canelo is putting in some work, he could have finished this already. Lands every power shot at will.

And fight's over.

Canelo can afford to be extremely measured with his punch output. This looks like sparring.

DAZN goes out again.

I should be paid overtime for having to watch this farce.

Yildirim is done

Who had a better entrance. Canelo or....

And there it is, first knockdown

Canelo opening up more in this round with the power shots

Everything is universal now, look at Bad Bunny, he is the world’s biggest Pop Star and most of his music is in Spanish.

Not speaking English has also been perceived as a marker of "authenticity" for some boxers. Tito Trinidad, Chavez probably best known recent examples

The big stars do not need English to crossover, Pacquaio did it first.

I mean, Canelo has his own hashtag on Twitter.

I wonder how much the Internet has helped with that

Part of Chavez's lack of appeal outside the Mexican fan base was his inability to speak English. That hasn't hurt Canelo at all, even though he speaks it, he doesn't much do it

One thing that we should appreciate, is that he hasn't needed to learn English to become as marketable as he is. That's never happened before, that I know of. Definitely not in boxing.

Yildirim's nickname is 'Mr. Robot' is that supposed to be flattering?

No surprise after first round, no chance for Yildirim to win this

Canelo standing completely flat-footed; he has no respect for Yildirim.

The body is WIDE open for Canelo.

He used to be a notoriously slow starter and would also fade during parts of fights. He really has improved substantially in last several years

Canelo isn't waiting around.

back

And the DAZN feed goes out

here we go

Buffer has made more money from boxing than 99% of boxers.

By the way, Nusret Gökçe, aka "Salt Bae" is at the fight. He's Turkish, so it makes sense that he'd be rooting for Yildirim, right?

I wonder if Michael Buffer still earns a million bucks every time he yells his catchphrase at a fight?

I'll finish corn nuts by 3rd round

Canelo KO 4th round

Okay, so before fight starts. Predictions. I think we're all expecting a KO. What round though?

Roberto, do you think you'll have enough time to go through your entire bag of corn nuts?

Michael Buffer has a great job

So Yildirim needs to get to 3rd round to beat that ring walk time.

Btw, Pitbull is busy right now with NASCAR.

No. Just fight time

Are we counting the minute break between rounds?

Not sure. Just kept track of it to see if it lasts longer than fight.

What is the over/under on the ring walk lasting longer than the fight?

7 minutes and 12 seconds of ring walk

Everybody hating on this ring walk, you mean?

This might be a top 5 greatest moment of Latino unity .

or Bad Bunny. With appearances on WWE's Royal Rumble and SNL, el conejo malo has proven that he makes any broadcast better.

I saw Pitbull before he became famous; he can actually rap

The best entrance I have seen live is Cotto coming out with Residente from Calle 13 for the Mayweather fight in 2012.

I wonder where Pitbull is watching the fight

No doubt. minute 5 now

This entrance will take longer than the actual fight

Bring back Hamed riding in to Wu-Tang!

Before I forget replying to Dylan's response to my Lopez comment, he fought in an era where the flyweight division was buzzing with guys like Gonzalez and Carbajal—the first guys to fight in a million dollar match in that weight class-- he could’ve easily gone up.

At least get a unicyle

Why is there a guy on a bike?

Bring back Prince Naseem. This entrance stinks.

Manouk, who's running our live blog, already posting memes

El Komander should be performing. That's all I'm saying

Who is this limpia for?

I'm counting that first song as part of Canelo's entrance time - we're up to almost 2 minutes

They're bringing out the sage!

Canelo's face looks like he's thinking "que fregados fue eso?"

That song was horrible

Haha, no cursing allowed.

God, this looks like a bad Cristian Castro music video

I think Canelo puts in some work and takes him out by TKO by RD 8.

Not sure if we can curse on here, but it would be a song from Los Razos

If you guys were boxers, what would your ring walk music be?

My final prediction - Canelo KO in 4

Is the over/under still at 2.5 rounds?

The best anthem performance for me before a big fight has been Tom Jones singing “God Save the Queen" before Mayweather vs, Hatton in 2007.

This entrance for Canelo is supposed to be amazing, according to Eddie Hearn, the best they'd put on.

They're legit making Yildirim go on the cat walk. This might be the saddest ring walk ever.

She's got that cooking carna asada in middle of summer glow to her

This is a choice for the "Star-Spangled Banner"

No era penal.

Christian Nodal before GGG2 - but that wasn't even televised.

No need to slander El Tri like that, Roberto.

When was the last time someone famous sang the Mexican National anthem for a Canelo fight?

Canelo has helped the Mexican anthem sang during sporting events. It used to be that you hear Mexican national anthem and you're about to see the national soccer team disappoint. Now it's the prelude to Canelo being one of best boxers in world

For those unfamiliar, the "Death Star" would be Allegiant Stadium, new home of the Las Vegas Raiders— that still feels weird to say.

Raiders stadium is being talked about for the Cinco de Mayo fight, Canelo is interested.

Reminder: Yildirim didn't make it out of the third round against Chris Eubank Jr.

The "Death Star"

is taking a lot of heat for fighting a guy like Yıldırım, but these types of fights are not unusual for boxers who plan to be busy. In between his major fights, the great Chavez fought guys like Marty Jakubowski and Bruce Pearson.

If Canelo fights on Cinco de Mayo, what venue do you think they'll use?

Other than that, we know who Yildirim is.

If you are looking for one unknown about Yildirim, is that he's been training with Joel Diaz who is one of best trainers in world.

Yeah, he is a good interview.

50 wings?!?!

Ruben Guerrero was the best part of that fight

Covering fights in Vegas is something else, a colleague and I ate 50 wings at Hooters after Mayweather vs. Guerrero since the fight was very boring.

AK and Barak are close to just calling Ryan Garcia a liar

There's certainly nothing like fights in Vegas. I live 10 minutes from AT&T Stadium. And while I enjoy sleeping in own bed when the big fights are here in Arlington, they aren't same atmosphere as Vegas.

Depends on crowd restrictions, I assume

So Eddie Hearn teased a Canelo fight on Cinco de Mayo. That has to be in Las Vegas, right?

I think that might be why Canelo says he won't be going to 175 anymore

Since DAZN talking about Canelo's fight against Kovalev, I had Canelo losing that fight by wide margin before the knockout.

Re: Lopez, I don't hold it against fighters for not moving up in weight. Generally, it makes them worse. I actually prefer they remain at their optimal weights. Unfortunately, fighters these days have to move up to find signature fights because of the thinning of the talent pool.

It's cliche also, but at least its Mexicans singing a Mexican song. Sweet Caroline is Brits singing a song about JFk's daughter

I mean....

Is ‘Cielito Lindo’ the Mexican ‘Sweet Caroline’?

A few fights ago Canelo just started wearing pajamas during fight week. Showed up wearing panda pajamas. He's kept up tradition.

It’s seems Matchroom boxing has a better budget than Golden Boy, Canelo’s entrance for the Smith Fight was top notch, like the stuff Anthony Joshua does and the Klitschkos did.

Sorry.

So good! So good!

If I hear "Sweet Caroline" I'm throwing my corn nuts across the room.

I'll admit, I'm not entirely sure what the whole pajama discourse is about. Can someone enlighten me?

Canelo's ring entrance might last longer than actual fight. We should keep an eye on that

IMO, Lopez is highly overrated, not top 10, he was complacent. Stuck around at straw weight for too long fighting Thai teenagers.

We're in the pajama talk portion of the evening.

Julio Cesar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez Ruben Olivares are only ones I'd argue belong in there without question. There's a bunch of 7 others that I can be talked into putting into top 5 - Lopez, Saldivar, Canto, Zarate, Morales, Barrera, Marquez

For me the top Mexican fighters of all-time are: 1. Chavez, 2. Sanchez, 3. Olivares 4a. Morales, 4b. Marquez 4c. Barrera.

I'm open on 4 and 5

1. Salvador Sanchez; 2. Chavez; 3. Ricardo Lopez

DAZN really desperate to fill up the time until the fight starts. Eddie Hearn is being interviewed.

Outside of 20 seconds against GGG, Canelo hasn’t really captured the fans imagination. His highlight reel Ko’s came against outmatched opponents like Kahn and Kirkland.

Ok, since we've got time. What are your top 5 Mexican boxers

That's also not type of boxer Canelo is. He's a defensive fighter much more than just about any great Mexican boxer - I think that works against him a bit

For me right now Canelo is in the top 10 of all-time Mexican fighters. But he lacks wow moments like guys in the top 5. He hasn’t done anything like when Chavez ate Rosario’s best punches to take it to him.

If you're setting up DAZN for your parents your more likely to think Canelo is better than Chavez. If your child is setting up your DAZN, you think there's no way Canelo can match Chavez

Canelo as Tim Duncan. That's quite the take, Albert.

Generational divide over the perception of how good Canelo is, I should clarify

It think there's a generation divide over how good Canelo is. Which doesn't just happen with Canelo, by the way. Still, Canelo is a polarizing figure, not sure he's changing many minds over who he is anymore

Speaking of Michael Nunn, he spent 16 years in prison for buying a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover officer – for $200. His story is a reminder that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Canelo is like Tim Duncan; you can’t deny their greatness. They just do not have sizzle.

I get why boxing writers are trying to hype Canelo as an all-time great; their livelihood depends on the sport surviving. But come on. Michael Nunn would’ve beaten him and I don’t see anyone calling Michael Nunn an all-time great.

Canelo's best win, in terms of quality of opponent and decisiveness of victory, was over Danny Jacobs.

This brings me to something you were tweeting about earlier this week, Albert. You were making the claim that Canelo doesn't really have that signature fight, and you also drew that comparison to Julio Cesar Chavez.

What's this nonsense about Canelo being the greatest Mexican fighter ever? Very good fighter, deserves credit for his professionalism, but he's no Salvador Sanchez, he's no Julio Cesar Chavez.

Or as Eddie Reynoso calls him, "Rriyan"

Canelo knows Yildirim very well, he was his sparring partner for the second match against GGG. So, he should be able to take him down with ease,

Ryan Garcia sighting

He's delusional.

According to DAZN, Canelo said he's fighting for all Latinos. As the only non-Mexican in this chat, do you feel like Canelo is fighting for you Dylan?

For me, this just a showcase fight. Canelo says he plans on having a busy year that includes possible fights with the other champs at 168--Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant--so this is just a logical tune-up coming after the Callum Smith match.

If he attacks Canelo, he'll be gone in the first round.

Actually, I'd assume Canelo would have more difficult sparring partners

Yildirim has said he's going to attack Canelo, if he does, this fights lasts 3 rounds. If he doesn't, and is defensive minded, this fight last until middle rounds. It'll be glorified sparring session.

So Yildirim isn't just bad, he's also shot.

Yildirim was never particularly impressive to begin with, but I seriously think he hasn’t been the same since he was knocked out by Chris Eubank Jr. Has looked a step closer since.

So yea, no shot for him.

Albert and Roberto, what are your expectations for this fight? To reiterate what Dylan said, I don't think anyone is really giving Yildirim much of a chance.

Tyson vs. Buster Douglas is generally considered biggest upset in boxing history, one of biggest in all of sports. Yildirim is a bigger underdog than DOuglas was that night.

That's the boxing business for you.

The only other recognizable fighter Yildirim has beaten is Aaron Pryor Jr., who is recognizable only because he shares the name (but not the talent) of his late father.

I enjoy talking to Mauricio Sulaiman, the president of the WBC, but holy smokes, how can his sanctioning body designate Yildrim as a mandatory challenger? His last fight was in February of 2019 when he lost to Anthony Dirrell. His best win might be over a 46-year-old Glen Johnson and that was almost six years ago.

You would think winning the first season of "The Contender" would have gotten him used to being on television.

Just to be clear: Yildirim has absolutely no chance of winning. None. Zero. He’s slow. He has no defense. He has only 12 knockouts in 23 fights. He’s more than two years removed from his last fight

That is one of my main gripes with DAZN, there are much better guys than Mora.

Sergio Mora seems like a really nice dude. But it makes him a terrible commentator.

I'll take the over, especially since there's plenty of time to kill until Canelo fight starts

I will bet the house on that!

Going to set the over/under on Dylan declaring boxing dead tonight at 2.5. Any takers?

Rodriguez wasn't expecting to fight until about a day ago. Late replacement for Julio Cesar Martinez. Rodriguez looks like he's on way out of this fight

Well, that is what you get with last minute replacements.

I got a whopper, which is more than we can say for this Abraham “Choko” Rodriguez vs. McWilliams Arroyo fight.

What about you Fidel?

I got my ranch corn nuts and a beer from local brewery in Dallas.

I am snacking on some BBQ ribs right now, but usually some carne asada.

And we're off. Dylan's got braised short ribs. Robert and Albert: What's your go to fight snack/food?

In normal times, a Canelo fight would mean carne asada with the in-laws. Tonight? Braised short ribs.

Hello folks. This is Fidel Martinez, sports audience engagement editor. Join us today at 6:30 PM as I moderate a live chat with Times columnist Dylan Hernandez and writers Roberto Andrade Franco and Albert Perez for the Canelo vs. Yildirim fight.