Will Antonio Margarito get Canelo fight if he beats Ramon Alvarez?

By Boxing News - 07/07/2016 - Comments

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By Dan Ambrose: With former welterweight world champion Antonio Margarito (39-8, 27 KOs) fighting Saul “Caneo” Avarez’s Brother Ramon Alvarez (23-4-2, 15 KOs) on August 13 next month, you have to wonder whether Golden Boy Promotions will look to pull the trigger on a match-up between Margarito and Canelo if Ramon loses the fight.

Golden Boy would have the perfect opponent for Canelo to fight if Margarito beats his brother. It would enable Canelo to avenge his brother’s lost to Margarito. At the same time, it would give Canelo a well-known opponent for him to fight in December, because right now he doesn’t have an opponent picked out.

WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders is a name that has been mentioned as a possibility for Canelo’s fight in December, but he’s not known to the casual boxing fans in America.

If Canelo fights Margarito, then that’s a fight that Golden Boy might look try and sell on HBO pay-per-view. Margarito would need to beat Ramon for all this to happen, and it’s unknown whether the 38-year-old Margarito still has enough to beat a limited guy like Ramon Alvarez.

Margarito and Ramon Alvarez will be fighting on August 13 at the Centro De Convenciones, Rosarito, in Baja California. Alvarez, 29, is ranked #13 by the WBC.

“I am working very hard. I brought some trainers to help me with the speed and strength,” said Alvarez to ESPN Deportes. “I’ll be ready for 10 or 12 rounds. I’m working well. I do not count on Margarito being old. For me, he is still a strong fighter and a warrior.”

Alvarez definitely needs help with his punching power and speed, because he’s not a big puncher and he’s not fast either. Alvarez doesn’t have his brother’s power. He also isn’t big for the weight class the way Canelo is big for both junior middleweight and middleweight.

Alvarez doesn’t drain down in weight to get an advantage over his opponents. He’s a true junior middleweight. It might be a good idea for Ramon to try and drain down to 147, because he could then rehydrate and be huge compared to his opposition. However, he’s 29, and it might not be doable for him to lose that kind of weight to make the 147lb division.

“My brother [Canelo] is very experienced, fast, and strong,” said Ramon. “What better sparring could have! I’ve heard that he’s overlooking me because Margarito says he will now fight with Canelo, but should first focus on me,” said Ramon.

Ramon’s experience at the pro level has been limited to old timers like Ben Tackie, Richard Gutierrez, and Vivian Harris. Those would have been good fights if they took place 15 years ago when these guys were in the prime of their careers. The fact that Ramon is still fighting that level of opposition at this point in eight year pro career tells you that he’s not progressing fast enough. Ramon is stuck at a certain level and not shooting past that to take on the Charlo brothers, Demetrius Andrade or Julian Williams. At this point, Ramon should at least be fighting gate keepers like Willie Nelson, John Jackson, Austin Trout and Jarrett Hurd.

Sadly, a fight between Canelo and Margarito probably sells in the U.S despite the fact that it would be a bad mismatch due to Margarito’s age and inactivity. Margarito was out of the ring from 2011 to 2016. That’s five years. Margarito came back last March to beat Jorge Paez Jr. by a 10 round decision. Margarito did not look good in that fight at all. He was knocked down and had to rally to win the fight.

I wish I could say that Golden Boy Promotions won;’t elect to match Canelo against Margarito in December, but I think they will if he beats Ramon next month. Instead of Canelo being matched against the best at 154 or 160, I think we’ll see him put in with Margarito.

The casual boxing fans in the U.S know Margarito, so it’s possible that a fight between him and Canelo would sell a lot better than fights between Canelo and Liam Smith and Billy Joe Saunders. However, it would be a circus type of fight much like Canelo’s recent mismatch against welterweight Amir Khan. It wouldn’t be as much of a weight mismatch as a talent and youth mismatch. Canelo, 25, is a lot younger than the 38-year-old Margarito, and he’s the much stronger puncher of the two. A younger Margarito would have given Canelo problems with his work rate and strong chin.