Canelo Alvarez Meets the Media in San Diego plus Super Bantamweight Chatter

Canelo Alvarez Meets the Media – As Saul “Canelo” Alvarez performs in front of the media on Wednesday, many perceive his showdown with England’s Liam “Beefy” Smith as a tune-up fight. In my estimation it’s anything but that.

When Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) meets Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sept. 17, for the WBO super welterweight title, it’s yet another Mexico versus England confrontation. So far the Brits have been winning those lately.

Few outside of the United Kingdom figured Carl Frampton would defeat Leo Santa Cruz in their battle of undefeated. Sure, Frampton didn’t beat up the slender Mexican fighter but he still got the win.

Both Smith and Alvarez are undefeated and, yes, Canelo has had many more quality fights, but the English body puncher is a quality fighter. He bangs to the body like few others from the island nation that brought us professional boxing many centuries ago.

Back in the day the typical British prizefighter had his guard up high and was always vulnerable to the body shot. No more. Now they’re properly prepared for prizefighting especially body attacks.

Smith can really bang to the body. He may not be the quickest fighter from England but he hits plenty hard and anyone that goes to the body as proficiently as he does can create more openings for his own attack. Basically what it comes down to is can he take a shot from Alvarez?

Canelo loves to go to the body too. He’s much quicker than Smith but can he take a shot to the belly if it comes to toe to toe action?

“I have looked at him, and the style more than anything is what we like. He’s a good fighter, he’s a champion. He’s very strong,” said Alvarez from his training camp in San Diego. “He’s got a Mexican style, you know, a guy that stands there and likes to exchange punches, so that’s one of the things that attracted us to the fight.”

If this fight were in New York then I would say Smith has a great chance of beating Alvarez. The reason I say that is I have yet to see a Mexican prizefighter win a decision in New York. Santa Cruz found out what his older brother Jose Armando Santa Cruz discovered years ago. In a close fight, they never reward Mexican fighters with the decision.

A good thing the fight is in Texas. But the red headed Alvarez has taken a verbal beating from social media sorts. They have blasted Alvarez for not meeting Gennady Golovkin for the middleweight championship.

“That’s fine, I’m used to it now, and I’ve got to do what’s best for my career,” said Alvarez about the critics.

Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions knows all about the critics. Throughout his own career he endured the same criticisms from fans that wanted him to fight everyone at once. First it was Felix Trinidad, then Shane Mosley, then Fernando Vargas and it never really ended until he retired. He knows all about the words and that was before the social media explosion.

“People will always talk and will always want the very best when you are on top of the world, and that’s what Canelo is right now. He’s on top. He is the star fighter in boxing, and people want him to fight the very best. And he has always fought the very best,” said De La Hoya on a telephone conference call. “And fighting a Golovkin is going to be no exception. He’s going to fight him, but when he’s ready to move up to 160.”

Even though Golovkin and Alvarez currently have signed contracts to fight others, the demanding fans through social media are demanding they fight each other. It’s comical.

But what lies in front of both fighters are serious opponents.

Alvarez meets Smith and it doesn’t look to be easy.

“I’m preparing for the best possible Liam Smith there is,” said Alvarez. “He’s a guy that’s very strong as well. He’s a strong puncher and throws combinations and he’s aggressive. So I’m preparing for the best possible Liam Smith there is. I’m going to go with my game plan. He can go with his game plan, and may the better man win.”

HBO pay-per-view will televise.

Canelo Alvarez Meets the Media and more – The Super Bantamweight Crowd

Southern California has recently filled up with a number of talented 122-pound super bantamweight contenders.

You can add L.A.’s Danny Roman to the list.

Last week Roman defended the NABA title against rugged Enrique Quevedo in the city of Corona.

Ironically, Corona was the former home of bantamweight great Manuel Ortiz who dominated the division during the 1940s. Back in those days there was no super bantamweight division, there were simply bantamweights and featherweights.

Roman has improved his game immensely and shown himself to be ready. Southern California and Northern California have some extremely talented super bantamweights. The division has become overloaded with 122-pounders. Why can’t these 122-pounders fight each other?

Among those that dwell in the division is super quick Diego De La Hoya who trains in Indio with Joel Diaz. Then there is the heavy-handed Jesse Magdaleno who is trained by Manny Robles. In Northern California, the tall super bantamweight Manuel Avila has shown he can deal with anyone at 122 or 126. Current featherweight contenders like Jojo Diaz, Abraham Lopez and Julian Ramirez could easily drop down to 122 but now reside at 126.

The super bantamweight division is seriously dripping with talent. I’d love to see a tournament in this weight class.

You can add Roman to the list.

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