De La Hoya: 15,000 tickets sold for Canelo-Kirkland fight in 2 hours after going on sale

By Boxing News - 03/04/2015 - Comments

canelo333(Photo Credit: HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions) By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya was bragging earlier on Wednesday about 15,000 tickets being sold for the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) vs. James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) fight after just two hours after the tickets went on sale for their May 9th fight at the Minute Main Park in Houston, Texas.

“In just two hours since they went on sale, 15,000 tickets have been sold for May 9,” Dela Hoya said.

It’s hard to believe that the Canelo vs. Kirkland fight sold 15,000 tickets in just two hours, because it’s not a great fight.

Kirkland has been a non-entity in recent years since he stopped being an active fighter after 2009. Additionally, Kirkland has put on a lot of weight and looks bloated.

During the Canelo-Kirkland press conference this week on Tuesday, Kirkland still looked visibly overweight despite the fact that he’s been in training for a month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuH6XfUW-PU

Kirkland still has two months to burn off the blubber, but I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to take the weight off without being weight drained and weak. We saw Alfredo Angulo looking really weak and drained in his fight against Canelo last year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Kirkland winds up the same way.

“Canelo has faced all the top guys at this age. Why? Because he wants to be the very best and to be the very best you have to fight the very best,” De La Hoya said.

Canelo still hasn’t faced Gennady Golovkin and Miguel Cotto, so you can’t say he’s faced “all the top guys” like De La Hoya says he has. Canelo fought Floyd Mayweather Jr and lost in their fight in September 2013.

Last year, Canelo fought Erislandy Lara and won a controversial decision. In 2013, Canelo fought Austin Trout and won a fight that was far closer than the scores that were handed down by the three judges. Some boxing fans think Canelo lost the fight to both Trout and Lara.

“We have to pair the best styles to create the best fight. No questions asked, this is going to be the fight of the year,” De La Hoya said. “We have all seen what Kirkland can do. He is a tough fighter. But, these are the types of the fights that Canelo loves, the fights for the fans.

Kirkland has the perfect style for Canelo to look good against, and he also is rusty and out of shape enough to double the chances of Canelo looking good. It’s always good match-making when your promoter finds an opponent that not only is perfect for your style, but who also is out of shape and rusty.

It would be better if De La Hoya selected fighters that were in better shape, more active, and who were still relevant fighters. Picking out a guy who hasn’t fought in close to two years sets it up to where Canelo will have to fight poorly for him to lose. Canelo can probably win this fight whether he slugs or boxes Kirkland. We saw Kirkland get knocked out in just one round by Nobuhiro Ishida in 2011.



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