By Ian S Palmer
Junior middleweights Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Alfredo Angulo will meet in an all-Mexican showdown on Saturday March 8 at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 12-round bout will be televised on pay per view by the Showtime network in America and it can also be seen on pay-per-view in Canada. While both of these boxers are hard hitters and dangerous, they’re both also coming off of losses in their last bouts.
The 23-year-old Alvarez, who hails from Jalisco, Mexico, will enter the ring with an excellent record of 42-1-1 with 30 Jos. The 31-year-old Angulo of Mexicali will climb through the ring ropes with a mark of 22-3 along with 18 Kos to his name. Both of these guys have better than average power and it’s doubtful this showdown will go the full 12 rounds. Angulo lost his last outing against Erislandy Lara Kirkland when he was stopped in the 10th round and Alvarez dropped a majority decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr his last time out for his first pro loss.
Angulo is used to participating in all-out wars while Alvarez prefers to utilize his boxing skills and wear his opponents down. With Angulo, it’s usually a case of winning or losing by a knockout, but Alvarez doesn’t mind going the distance if he has to. If Angulo isn’t able to finish off a hurt opponent he often finds himself in trouble and ends up paying for it. He’s still a powerful puncher, but if Alvarez can take his best shots then it doesn’t really bode well for Angulo.
There’s no doubt that Angulo will never give up as he has the heart of a lion and since he’s fighting a fellow countryman he should be quite motivated for this contest. Alvarez was outboxed by Mayweather last year, but it’s highly doubtful that Angulo will be able to confuse him with his boxing skills. Alvarez is regarded as one of boxing’s brightest stars though so he can ill afford a second straight loss on his record.
Alvarez has the advantage of youth on his side and he’s also more energetic than Angulo with better overall boxing skills. Alvarez really also has more experience as this will be the young man’s 45th pro fight already. The key to this fight will be Alvarez’s chin. He’s not exactly the hardest guy to hit in the sport so we should assume that Angulo’s going to find and tag him on the chin at some point of the bout. When he does, the fight’s going to depend on Alvarez’s reaction.
Some fans feel Alvarez is slightly overrated at this stage of his career and he’ll be tested, at least his chin will, by Angulo. Alvarez has beaten some of boxing’s bigger names, but many of them were well past their peak. His best win so far has been over former champion Austin Trout, but he’s probably not considered to be an elite level fighter by most fans.
This should be a competitive fight while it lasts and could be closer than some fans think. It could turn into a slugfest, but Alvarez may decide to stick to boxing and wait for the opportunity to unleash his attack. It’s also likely that he’ll be digging his fists into Angulo’s body right from the get-go.
The former world champion Alvarez is faster, younger and sharper than Angulo, but if he can’t take a punch he’ll be in trouble. But there’s no reason to believe after 44 fights that he’s suddenly going to develop a glass jaw. Look for Alvarez to methodically try to break his opponent down and go to his body as often as he can. It should be an exciting contest with Alvarez taking it by a second-half stoppage or a unanimous decision.
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