According to a report on ESPN.com, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will face Josesito Lopez on September 15th, finally locking into place an opponent for his Mexican Independence Day weekend fight. Canelo vs. Lopez is a fan-friendly fight, which should offer plenty of action, but it’s not quite what we were expecting either. Of course, after so many opponents have fallen through, it’s hard to blame Team Canelo for locking this bout up and just looking to put on a good show and move on.
For Josesito, this is a can’t-lose situation — that is, of course, besides the “L” that’s likely to end up on his ledger. Lopez has been a lightweight and junior welterweight for most of his career, and his first fight above that weight class was his recent win over Victor Ortiz. Now, he’s moving all the way up to junior middleweight to take on one of the best – and biggest – fighters in that division.
When you factor in that with his penchant for putting on aggressive, tough and gritty performances, and nobody should have anything bad to say about Lopez, however the fight plays out. He’s going to be giving it his all either way, and he’ll walk away with the best payday of his career thus far.
If he loses, so what? He’ll go back to 147 lbs, or even 140 lbs, and have no stain whatsoever. And if he happens to win? Well, that may be unlikely, but the dream continues. And I wouldn’t ever write off Lopez completely. As I’ve been saying over and over again, he’s the number 1 upset-specialist in the sport today, and if you’re not ready to deal with him in your face all night long, then you’re going to be in trouble.
As for Canelo Alvarez, as mentioned, there’s no real blame to be had in his choice of opponent. It was Paul Williams, then James Kirkland, then Victor Ortiz, and now finally, Josesito. Lopez probably makes for a more exciting, if less meaningful, bout than somebody like Cornelius Bundrage or Austin Trout. And of course, anybody who knew anything could have told you that Erislandy Lara wasn’t going to be getting the call one way or the other.
The real problem with Canelo vs. Lopez on September 15th on Showtime, is that it’s the same night – and same freakin’ town – as the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez fight on HBO PPV. It makes no sense to be putting those fighters and cards up against one another, and it’s a classic case of the powers that be in the sport shooting themselves in the foot as opposed to working together for everyone’s best interests.
