By Dan Ambrose: Promoter Oscar De La Hoya says he would make a fight between his fighter WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (37-0-1, 27 KO’s) and unbeaten Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (43-0-1, 30 KO’s) in a second if the fight were to take place at 154 lbs. It’s hard to disagree with De La Hoya for wanting that fight, because Alvarez appears to be the much better skilled fighter compared to Chavez Jr., who is more of a wide open defensiveness slugger with only moderate power.
The one thing that would get in the way of De La Hoya making the Alvarez-Chavez Jr. fight happen, besides Chavez Jr. having issues trying to make the 154 pound weight, is probably Chavez’s promoter Bob Arum. He might not like the idea of putting Chavez Jr., a mini cash cow,, in with a non-Top Rank fighter and one that could potentially put a halt to the Chavez Jr. gravy train. A defeat like the one that Ryan Rhodes suffered against Alvarez would likely put a monkey wrench in Chavez Jr. continuing to having his fights aired on HBO.
De La Hoya said this about Alvarez on his twitter: “I have to admit that at 20-years old, I wasn’t even thinking of doing the things that Canelo can do in the ring. Ok, let’s say I do throw him in with [Alfredo] Angulo and beats him whoever comes up with the best excuse why Angulo lost gets a Golden Boy t-shirt. I would make Canelo vs. Chavez Jr. anytime at 1534 pounds.”
Alvarez would be at a size disadvantage against Chavez Jr. but it wouldn’t matter, because Alvarez is fighting like the junior middleweight division’s version of Juan Manuel Marquez. But Alvarez is hard to hit more than occasionally and when he does get hit, Alvarez is so quick and powerful that he pays his opponents back immediately. Chavez Jr. would be too slow and easy to hit to really compete with Alvarez and I see Chavez Jr. getting soundly beaten by a lopsided 12 round decision. Arum likely knows this too after seeing Alvarez’s display against the number #3 ranked Rhodes last night. I can’t see Arum wanting to put one of his cash cows in with Alvarez to be taken apart and made to look like an amateur, especially given Alvarez’s youth. It would be even worse for Chavez Jr. to be dominated by a 20-year-old like Alvarez.
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