Is Canelo vs. Angulo a PPV worthy fight?

By Boxing News - 01/12/2014 - Comments

canelo7657By Dan Ambrose: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) and Golden Boy Promotions are picking the wrong time to have him fight for the first time as a pay-per-view headliner in his fight with the recently knocked out Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18 KO’s). If Boxing fans want to see the red-haired Canelo’s next fight on March 8th against Angulo on Showtime PPV, then they’ll have to purchase the fight on PPV. It’s unknown what the fight card will cost, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it goes for $59.99.

Fans don’t have an issue with Canelo fighting an easy mark like Angulo, because Canelo is coming off of a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. He was totally outclassed by Mayweather in almost humiliating fashion in that fight.

Mayweather seemed to ease up on the 23-year-old Canelo in the 9th round and coast the rest of the way rather than clowning him further. But for Canelo and Golden Boy to make his next fight against Angulo his first PPV fight, it almost seems like the boxing fans are being punished for Canelo’s loss. Why make fans pay for a fighter who was clowned as bad as Canelo was? It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer tries to justify the fight being on PPV by saying this to ESPN “Canelo is a huge start so going to pay-per-view was not an issue. You seen it when he goes somewhere in Los Angeles or Mexico. He has that charisma where people are draw to him. I saw that in San Antonio in December when he came to the Marcos Maidana-Adrien Broner card. The ovation he got was crazy. People embrace him. The fans go nuts.”

So because fans like Canelo when he goes out it’s reason enough to ask them to pay to see him against a weak opponent like Angulo?

For a lot of fans, Canelo lost a lot of credibility with how he was dominated by Mayweather. He had the size and power advantage over Mayweather, but instead of trying to use it, Canelo focused on fighting Mayweather’s fight by boxing him. It was embarrassing how bad Canelo looked. And now they want boxing fans to pay to see his future fights starting with Angulo. If this is what the future holds for Canelo, him fighting fringe contenders coming off of knockout losses, then that’s bad for the fans.

PPV used to be for world class fights involving two high quality fighters in the main event battling each other for titles. There will be no titles on the line for the Canelo-Angulo fight, because both guys were soundly beaten in their last fights.

Golden Boy is going to have to make a decision what they’re going to do with Canelo in the near future when he can no longer melt down to fight in the 154 lb. division. With Canelo rehydrating to over 170+ lbs. for his fights, he’s going to need to at least move up to the middleweight division real soon. Canelo doesn’t have the game to compete at that weight. What we’ll like see is Canelo become another Brandon Rios and Adrien Broner. Those guys were able to use their weight advantage over their lighter opponents when they fought at the lighter weights. But after they moved up to welterweight, they weren’t the same.



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