By Allan Fox: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) revealed recently that he wanted to fight former WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez next but his team said no to the idea.
In an interview by esnewsporting.com, Alvarez said “I wanted Sergio Martinez, but my team said it was a style that wouldn’t appeal to fans. We want to give the fans a fight to enjoy.”
So I guess that’s why Alvarez is facing light welterweight Josesito Lopez (30-4, 18 KO’s) next rather than the much faster and harder hitting Martinez. It looks like Martinez isn’t as interesting an opponent compared to Lopez, who basically fell into this fight when he beat former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on an injury that knocked Ortiz out of the fight. Lopez was on his way to losing to Ortiz until he quit after suffering a broken jaw.
I don’t really agree with the excuse that Alvarez is making. I do believe that his team said no to a fight with Martinez, but I think it’s more of a case of Martinez having a style that would give the flat-footed Alvarez all kinds of trouble. It’s painfully obvious that Alvarez doesn’t move well around the ring, and he has problems against guys that use movement against him.
If you put a fighter like Martinez in there against the 5’9″ lead-footed Alvarez, he’s going to box circles around Alvarez and make him look bad. Alvarez is more of a Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. type of fighter that does well against stationary fighters that just stand there like punching bags exchanging shots with him.
Alvarez is a great body puncher and he needs a fighter that will fight with his feet literally glued to the canvas for him to do really well against them. Martinez is too much of a modern fighter with a pro style that would give Alvarez fits. Alvarez fights with the old 50s style of fighting and it’s not a style that works well against modern guys that can move.
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