By Dan Ambrose: In what will likely be a terrible mismatch, WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (37-0-1, 27 KO’s) defends his title against No.7 ranked World Boxing Council challenger Alfonso Gomez (23-4-2, 12 KO’s) on September 17th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
The fight will be televised on HBO pay per view (PPV) on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Victor Ortiz, which is taking place in another venue at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Alvarez, 21, was added to the HBO broadcast by Golden Boy Promotions in order to beef if up and draw some more fans from a more broader background.
I have no beef with Alvarez being part of the card, but the choice of opponent is lacking to say the least. Gomez, 30, isn’t in the same league as Alvarez talent-wise and really doesn’t belong on this card fighting for a title from what I’ve seen of him lately. Alvarez is a stronger, younger, faster and all around better than Gomez. It’s been two years since Gomez fought a world class fighter and that was against a fringe welterweight contender Jesus Soto Karass in 2009.
Gomez looked good for four rounds, ran out of gas and banged heads with Karass, resulting in the fight being halted in the 6th. Had the fight gone the full 10, I think Karass would have won the fight because he was coming on and Gomez looked exhausted. Other than that fight. Gomez got stopped by Miguel Cotto in a 5th round stoppage in 2008 in a bout that saw Gomez knocked down three times. It was like every time Cotto would hit Gomez, he’d hit the deck.
The Alvarez fight is going to be a replay of that one, because Alvarez is just too strong for Gomez. I think Gomez belongs fighting in the welterweight division against some of the fringe guys to be working his way to a title shot. But to put him in with one of the best fighters in the junior middleweight division like Alvarez is so wrong. It’s going to be a slaughter.
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