The burden of proof lies on him to prove he wasn't going all out.
1. Chinjao wasnt even using Hasshoken or Koka and he isn't M3 level. Bartolomeo was being modest
2. Doesn't mean he's on Luffy's level.
3. So?
4. So?
5. Robin has a higher bounty than Sanji so she must be stronger than him.
Barto beats Cavendish high diff and that's being generous.
It's a shonen dude. The fact Gladius already got defeated in his own and final arc when Cavendish didn't get started yet on the contrary puts his hype higher since it means Oda is reserving him for better things in the future
1- I'm not talking about haki, but physical stats. His physical strength matched Chinjao(a monster trio physical fighter), so he has M3 physical strength, haki or not
2- Key-word: Portrayal. He was put in the same light with Luffy. Bartolomeo never got that honor. Hell in the color spread of the arc, he was sitting alongside Luffy, Law and Zoro when Bartolomeo was behind. You must ask yourself why Oda did this? It's what is called portraying someone as superior
3- It means that Cavendish is in the middle between worse generation and Bartolomeo
4- It means he has better experience of the new world and had more time to grow stronger since his first supernova bounty title
5- Robin is just an exception due to the fact she can read poneglyph, things that are related to the void century, the government is trying to hide when in Bartolomeo and Cavendish's case, their bounty is related to their actual strength. Hell, a veteran vice-admiral from the marine HQ who participated in the war of the best hyped his genius in swordplay
His hype is overall better. Cavendish is stronger