Alvarez vs. Angulo: Can the underdog bite off the cinnamon?

By Boxing News - 03/03/2014 - Comments

canelo76By Gerardo Granados: After his disappointing performance against the pound for pound best boxer and future hall of fame member Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) has selected Alfredo “Perro” Angulo (22-3, 18 KO’s) as his opponent to face this Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The betting odds show Canelo as a huge favorite to win, but when a fighter has one punch KO power like Angulo does things might become more interesting to watch.

In his last fight in June of 2013, Angulo gave hell to the newly crowned interim WBA light middleweight belt holder Erislandy Lara in a grueling fight, but ultimately Angulo fell short of success with the fight being halted in the 10th round due to Angulo suffering an eye injury.

Perro Angulo might be tailor made for Canelo Alvarez, as Canelo has the better skills. but “El Perro” has heavy hands that could turn out to be the equalizer in this fight.

Angulo is a pressure fighter; a straight forward brawler, but he has average speed and lacks great footwork or defense. Anguelo tends to get hit with both lefts and rights. Alvarez has good overall boxing skills but as seen against Mayweather Jr., he can’t adjust with ease when things don’t turn out as planned.

Angulo also edges Alvarez with his trainer Virgil Hunter, who has the knowledge to prepare a good game plan and to advise him on how to adjust if necessarily. With Angulo preparing for the fight by training with Amir Khan, you can assume that Angulo will be prepared if Alvarez chooses to box him.

It will be interesting to see if Canelo can recover his confidence when faced with Angulo’s ferocious pressure. Canelo will be dealing with a brawler that won’t run around like the welterweights that Canelo has built his record on. You have to wonder whether Canelo’s corner will advise him properly for this fight if things don’t go well for the red-haired Canelo. Clearly, Canelo’s corner was missing in action in his last fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., because he fought the wrong fight.

Third thing is stamina; will Alvarez be able keep up with Angulo´s pressure for the full fight? I believe this fight won’t need to be scored, because it’ll have a definitive outcome.

The betting odds go up to 10 – 1 in favor of Alvarez making Angulo the clear underdog, but things can’t be given as granted. Logic tells that Canelo will win but I have a feeling that the dog will bite off the Alvarez´s cinnamon, so I am placing my bet waiting to win big. But what about the reader? Do you think the underdog can bite hard enough?



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