Sizzling Canelo-GGG 2 Undercard Stacked with Noteworthy Fights

The rematch between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is the biggest fight of the year, but the three televised undercard bouts should provide spills and thrills all their own in what has shaped up as perhaps the best four-fight boxing pay-per-view event in recent history.

In addition to the epic showdown between Alvarez and Golovkin for Golovkin’s WBA and WBC middleweight titles, the Sept. 15 HBO PPV card is stacked with sizzling matchups that should provide plenty of bang for hardworking fight fans’ bucks.

Canelo vs. GGG 2 begins live on HBO PPV at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT (also available as a stream via Fite.tv). In addition to the main event, here are three more reasons to buy the fight.

David Lemieux vs. Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan

Lemieux (39-4, 33 KOs) vs. O’Sullivan (28-2, 20 KOs) is a battle of heavy-handed middleweights that could potentially offer more excitement than all the other fights on the card combined. Lemieux (pictured on the right) is younger, more accomplished and probably even more of a technically sound fighter than O’Sullivan, but the latter’s slightly larger physical build and thudding, thrown-with-abandon punches should help him push Lemieux to the brink.

This bout will be a throwback encounter of epic proportions, harking back to a time when professional prizefighters were more interested in making sure they fought with passion and excitement than they were in making sure they didn’t make a big mistake. Both fighters are offensively minded and a review of the two men’s styles in previous bouts indicates the fight will be fought at a fast and furious pace only lasting as long as both of the participants can stand. Heading into the scheduled 12-round battle, it looks like someone is going down for the count before the final bell. This fight is going to rock.

Jaime Munguia vs. Brandon Cook

WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia  (30-0, 25 KOs) deserves the kind of showcase fight he’s getting in fighting Cook on this card. Munguia is a 21-year-old boxing baby but he already has two excellent wins under his belt with defeats of Sadam Ali, who Munguia ripped the title from via round 4 knockout in May, and former titleholder Liam Smith, who Munguia decisioned in July.

Meanwhile, Cook (20-1, 13 KOs) gets an unexpected chance of a lifetime. The Toronto-based fighter was scheduled for such a thing in facing former welterweight champ Kell Brook in a junior middleweight bout on July 28 in London, but that fight was cancelled because of a Brook injury. Now the upset minded Cook gets a chance to prove he’s a fighter worthy of attention.

But Munguia looks like a real diamond in the rough. He’s got excellent power in both hands and fights in such an aggressive style that he should become one of the more popular bruisers in the sport so long as he can keep to his winning ways. In facing Cook on the PPV undercard, Munguia will get more exposure as a newish boxing commodity than he’s ever received, and he’ll also get the chance to make a case he should be pitted against his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya’s, cash cow, Alvarez, in a Mexico vs. Mexico showdown sooner rather than later.

Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez vs. Moises Fuentes

Gonzalez (46-2, 38 KOs) might someday be considered historically the greatest fighter to compete on this PPV card. That’s a big deal. Golovkin is one of the best middleweights ever and Alvarez might someday carve his own place among the all-time greats.

Gonzalez is one of the better pressure fighters in boxing history. He’s won world titles in four different weight classes as well as a lineal championship in the flyweight division. Gonzalez has faced and defeated stalwart competition over the years losing only to one fighter (twice) in Srisaket Sor Rungvisai at what in retrospect might have been an absurdly high weight (junior bantamweight) for the diminutive Nicaraguan.

Gonzalez, 31, now returns to the flyweight division he once ruled to take on seasoned veteran Fuentes. A good performance against Fuentes could yield Gonzalez future big fights with the likes of Donnie Nietes or Cristofer Rosales. Fuentes (25-5-1, 14 KOs) is 1-3 in his past four fights and desperately in need of a victory. A win for the 30-year-old over the legendary Gonzalez would vault Fuentes right back where he wants to be. A loss could end his career entirely. It’s safe to say he’ll be fighting for his livelihood on fight night.

Are Gonzalez’s best days as a fighter behind him? Or did he just move up too far in weight against a fighter too dangerous for him to beat? His bout against Fuentes will help answer these important questions as well as give fans a view into what comes next for one of the most accomplished little fighters in the world today.

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