(Photo credit: Ester Lin/Showtime) By Dan Ambrose: ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas sees this Saturday’s fight between WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) and Josesito Lopez (30-4, 18 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, as being a cut dried case of the 22-year-old Alvarez having simply too much power and size for the welterweight Lopez.
However, Atlas doesn’t just think that Alvarez’s power and weight will be major factors in him winning this Saturday. Atlas also points to Alvarez’s boxing skills and speed as being huge factors for him in this fight.
Atlas said “Alvarez at the end of the day is much too big. Alvarez’s skill and size might be so far superior that the will [of Lopez] doesn’t get tested. Lopez is not able to test the will of Alvarez the way he needs to to win. The one thing about Alvarez is that it’s not in his temperament or nature to go after you. He’s more of a boxer. He’s a Mexican in the traditional great Mexican fighters, but he’s not a Chavez Sr. that goes after you and is looking to seek and destroy you. He’s going to box a little bit. He’s got quick hands; he’s sharp with his punches. He goes to the body well, but he’ll box a little bit. If he pushes the envelope a little bit against a very hard to stop and game Lopez, there’s a chance, yes [to stop Lopez.”
I don’t see Alvarez as going after Lopez in a sustained way to try and get him out of there unless Lopez puts a lot of pressure on him. If Lopez angers Alvarez, he’ll motivate Alvarez to try and get Lopez out of there as fast as possible. Alvarez doesn’t like when his opponents go after him and he tends to look to retaliate with huge shots when he gets hit. Lopez is going to be hitting Alvarez a lot in this fight while it lasts, and I imagine this is going to cause Alvarez to want to finish Lopez as quickly as possible.
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