Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will take on Alfredo Angulo on March 8 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Canelo vs. Angulo will take place at the MGM Grand, and will headline a Showtime event.
The confirmation of Alvarez vs. Angulo ends a good deal of debate and speculation on Canelo’s next fight and opponent. He and his team made a $10 million offer to Miguel Cotto, but Cotto has opted instead to face Sergio Martinez for the middleweight title in June.
While the fight is sure to sell, and it should be an entertaining scrap, it’s not exactly a high profile match, either.
Starting with his loss to James Kirkland in 2011, Angulo is just 2-2 in his past four fights. He’s coming off a loss to Erislandy Lara in his only fight of 2013. Prior to that, he had just two modest wins following his one year absence from the sport due to legal issues. He’s not currently ranked in our top 10 at 154 lbs.
Why didn’t Canelo look to somebody such as Carlos Molina? Our Least Respected Boxer of the Year is a titleholder and is ranked as the number 3 guy in the division. He’s coming off a win on a pay-per-view card which surely gave him some exposure.
Clearly, the risk-reward ratio wasn’t good enough for Canelo. And he still may be able to fight for a title against Angulo. If Mayweather has his next fight at 147 lbs, instead of 154 lbs, the WBC may force him to vacate the strap. They’d allow Canelo to go ahead and fight for it right away. Hey, why not?
Also slated for action is Canelo’s brother Ricardo. Ricardo will take on the undefeated Omar Figueroa. Figueroa has taken some time off after his grueling battle against Nihito Arakawa last year, but had been building a good deal of momentum as one of the best young fighters in the sport.
What do you think about Canelo’s next fight? Leave your thoughts below in the comments.
