Canelo: I think I’m stronger than Angulo

By Boxing News - 03/06/2014 - Comments

canelo632By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) has been hearing nonstop for the past couple of weeks how the bigger Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18 KO’s) is stronger than him and the harder puncher, but Canelo isn’t ready to agree to that. Canelo believes that it’s he and not Angulo that is the harder puncher of the two, and he intends on proving that on Saturday night when they meet each other at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Everyone says Angulo is the stronger guy, but I think I’m the strongest. Angulo presents a difficult challenge because he’s a fighter who can punch and take a great punch. I know I have to prepare and establish my game plan early. But you know how it can be with game plans. Sometimes, once a fight starts, you have to do what you have to do to win and that’s what I am going to do on Saturday.”

Canelo talks a good game, but he doesn’t back it up in the ring. In his last fight, it was Floyd Mayweather Jr. who was the stronger guy and bouncing shots off Canelo’s head.

I don’t see Canelo trying to slug with Angulo. Canelo doesn’t have the chin to stand in there with the hard hitting Angulo, and if he tries to prove a point by getting in the trenches with him, we could see the red-haired Canelo get stopped for the first time in his career. Canelo was pretty badly shaken up in his fight against Jose Miguel Cotto in the past, and Golden Boy Promotions has mostly taken it easy with Canelo since moving him up to the 154 lb division three years ago.

They even matched Canelo up against a welterweight [Matthew Hatton] when he fought for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title in 2011. It would be nice for boxing fans if Canelo did stand in front of Angulo to fight him in a toe-to-toe manner like how Golden Boy has named the fight card, but I see this fight being anything but a toe-to-toe affair.

I can see Angulo wanting it to be a one on one battle, but that’s not been Canelo’s style of fighting unless he’s in the ring with a welterweight much smaller than him like Josesito Lopez, Kermit Cintron, Matthew Hatton, Shane Mosley and Alfonso Gomez. Canelo went toe-to-toe with these guys, but they’re all welterweights. Canelo didn’t go toe-to-toe with Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Austin Trout. Canelo mostly boxed those guys, and would retreat to the ropes when he needed rest breaks to get his wind. Canelo can’t fight at a high pace against a puncher like Angulo, because he’ll wear Canelo down and stop him.



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