By Scott Gilfoid: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (36-0-1, 26 KO’s) will be making his first title defense of his World Boxing Council title in June, according to fight news. The bout will likely take place in Alvarez’s native Mexico and #3 ranked contender Ryan Rhodes (45-4, 31 KO’s) is the leading candidate for the fight. The bout could take place on June 18th in Guadalajara or Puebla. Alvarez shouldn’t have any problems beating Rhodes because the British fighter has faced mostly British and European opposition during his 16-year pro career and very little 1st opposition among his victories.
I honestly can’t see one top tier guy on Rhodes’ resume unless you count Jamie Moore, someone that Rhodes defended his WBU light middleweight title against in 2009. Alvarez is much too strong for the light hitting Rhodes and this should be a nice easy win for Alvarez. However, he’s actually better off defending his title against #1 contender Alfredo Angulo or #2 Paul Williams. Fights against either of those guys will get a lot more attention and Alvarez will be a lot more respected if he can beat either of them. I don’t know if he can.
Angulo and Williams are very good fighters and Alvarez’s promoters probably aren’t in a hurry for him to face them. Also, #4 ranked contender Vanes Martirosyan is another dangerous fighter that Alvarez could take on for his next fight. But like Williams and Angulo, Martirosyan would have a very good chance of beating Alvarez because of his blend of power and boxing skills. Martirosyan is an excellent fighter and maybe the best in the entire division right now. If I’m Alvarez’s promoters, I would go for a fight against Rhodes because that seems like the easiest by far of the possible fights that Alvarez can make right now. He needs to mature more and get some wins under his belt where he can learn and grow as a fighter.
Comments are closed.