Everybody says Canelo is showing his age, is he?

“Everybody’s got a particular number of fights in them. Nobody tells you what that number is. “

Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris

Canelo Alvarez won for the 59th time in his career last Saturday night.

Canelo with the 1-2! Canelo Álvarez vs. John Ryder | Every Punch

He battered and bloodied John Ryder for 36 minutes.

Not good, said several boxing fans on social media.

“He’s in decline,” said others.

Even Ryder, though respectful, voiced the same opinion after the fight.

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“He was very good, but I think he is past his best,” said tough-guy Ryder.  “But he still had enough in his tank tonight.

“Why is he past his best? Because he couldn’t get me out of there. He planned to stop me, and he didn’t. I know I took a great shot in the fifth round, but I came back swinging and had some good rounds after that.”

Ryder hung in like grim death. The guy is a real fighter. A throwback, but on another level.

Still, you get your nose broken, bleed all over the ring, and lose by near shutout, but still say the guy who hammered you is “past it.”

That’s like losing a basketball game by 60 points and saying, “Yeah, they’re good, but still.”

You get it.

But you know what?

I agree with Ryder.

Alvarez has been showing signs of erosion since the Caleb Plant bout.

The decline is associated with reflexes and speed. Alvarez has been fighting since he was 15. He’s engaged in 62 fights.

That’s a lot.

Said David Benavidez Sr, “Canelo is in the final stage of his career.”

The thinking going into the fight was that Alvarez would roll over Ryder. If he had knocked out Ryder in round five, when he had him down and hurt, the court of social opinion would have been more complimentary, to a degree.

Alvarez has always been a lightning rod of debate. Some say he’s great, others say he sucks, which is ridiculous.

Great is the top of the mountain. Think Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Joe Louis. Alvarez is on the mountain. He’s good, without a doubt.

He’s officially lost two fights; one could add a couple more.

He wants the man who handed him his second official defeat next.

“Everybody knows I want a rematch with Bivol,” said Alvarez. “If the Bivol fight doesn’t happen, we’ll see. I’m happy to fight anybody. I want the same rules, the same terms, the same everything [for a second fight with Bivol].

“I think I’m better than him,” Alvarez told ESPN last week. “If you see the first five rounds, six rounds, I dominate the fight.”

Alvarez saying, he dominated the first five rounds against Bivol is delusional. A not-so-good friend (likely on the payroll) must be whispering in his ear.

The Russian is longer and outboxed Alvarez easily. He’s one of the best technicians in the game.

Alvarez deserves credit for facing Bivol for a second time. Beating him is another story.

But now, it’s even more difficult.

Getting older is part of life. Aging is a ritual most can’t avoid.

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