By Jim Dower: Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions could see money fly out the window this Saturday night if his golden goose Saul “Canelo” Alvarez goes down to defeat against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. A loss for Canelo could decrease his star power in boxing, making it tougher to sell his fights to the U.S public.
Canelo has mostly been matched against guys that he’s clearly better than in showcase fights that make him look better than he is. De La Hoya hasn’t taken many chances with Canelo since his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013, because he’s the last of his money fighters. Golden Boy has some decent fighters like David Lemieux, Lucas Matthysse and Joseph Diaz Jr., but those guys are not likely to ever become a PPV attraction like Canelo.
A loss for Canelo to Chavez Jr. won’t remove him as a mini-PPV fighters, but lead to him losing some of his boxing fans that are willing to purchase his fights on PPV. Even if Canelo wins, he could still lose fans if De La Hoya doesn’t start matching him against better fighters like Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs and Jermall Charlo. De Hoya has been putting Canelo in with the likes of Liam Smith, Amir Khan, Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland and Miguel Cotto.
De La Hoya has his reasons for picking Chavez Jr. to fight Canelo instead of someone like Gennady Golovkin. Chavez Jr. hasn’t been the most dedicated fighters in the sport for the last 6 years of his career. But what makes Chavez Jr. so enticing for the fight against Canelo is exactly the negative things in his career. Chavez Jr’s lackadaisical approach to his career is likely the reason he’s getting the fight against Cnaelo. It would be bad news if Canelo if Chavez Jr. had been serious about his career, and if he were still accomplishing things If Chavez Jr. could fight like Gennady Golovkin, then the chances would be
This is supposed to be a tough but VERY winnable fight for the 26-year-old Canelo, because he’s been the much busier and far more disciplined fighter of the two throughout his boxing career. Chavez Jr. has treated his own career with nearly the same seriousness as Canelo has. Chavez Jr. has fought 3 out of his last 5 fights in the light heavyweight division, not because he’s a natural at that weight, but because he’s failed to make the 168 pound weight limit for his fights at super middleweight. On Friday, Chavez Jr. is expected to weigh-in at 164 ½ pounds for his catchweight fight against Canelo.
The 6’1” Chavez Jr. is a lot bigger than the 5’9” Canelo, and that size could make up for his disadvantage in skills and his years of part time fighting. Chavez Jr. is a bigger fighter with good power in both hands. Chavez Jr. doesn’t need to load up on his shots for him to get power on his punches. He’s naturally big and can get power by using leverage from his frame. There’s no question that Chavez Jr. is a super middleweight, and Canelo is going to be getting hit harder in this fight than he has in a long time. De La Hoya hasn’t matched Canelo against many big punchers during his career. The hardest puncher that Canelo. has fought thus far is James Kirkland in 2015, but that fight only lasted 3 rounds in 2015 before Canelo knocked him out.
“I think Canelo is smarter than him,” said Mayweather Sr. to Fighthub.com about him thinking that Canelo will be too smart for Chavez Jr. “I think he’ll outwit him. I’m not worried about the weight and the size. As long as you can move, there’s a lot of things you can do. I think Canelo will do a good job. That’s what makes you learn. You get beat. You learn from guys do to you. You do it back against someone else,” said Mayweather Sr.
Canelo is a smart fighter, but he makes a lot of mistakes due to his lack of stamina. Canelo spends more time on the ropes than he should. Canelo likely realizes that it’s not smart for him to fight with his back against the ropes, but he can’t stay off the ropes because of his limited stamina.
“Canelo has better skills, Chavez Jr. is big,” said Badou Jack to Mayweather’s Boxing Channel. “He [Chavez Jr.] looks like he’s in super shape. I’ve seen several pictures, He’s a good fighter. A draw.”
What former WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack says about Chavez Jr’s size being an equalizer is what a lot of people are saying. They like Canelo’s boxing skills, hand speed and dedication to the sport, but they feel that Chavez Jr’s size, power and his pedigree will even things about a bit. For all intents and purposes, Chavez Jr. is someone that is 2 divisions above Canelo. The two of them might not be far apart in weight on Saturday night, but Chavez Jr. is still going to be the one with the bigger frame that he can use to generate power and absorb the shots. If the fight winds up as a dog fight where both guys stand and trade for 12 rounds, Chavez Jr. could win that fight because of bigger frame and his good chin.
“Canelo will beat him,” said Roger Mayweather to Mayweather’s Boxing Channel. “I just figure Canelo will win. I think he’ll win.”
Picking Canelo is an easy choice for Roger Mayweather to make. He’s seen Canelo up close in 2013 when he fought and lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. Canelo was good back then, but he couldn’t get past Mayweather’s lightning fast jab that he kept hitting him with. Canelo was trying to land his left hand counter all night long, but Mayweather was only jabbing and leaning backwards to avoid Canelo’s left hook.
If Mayweather had thrown a lot of right hands or if he had let Canelo come in close, then he would have hit him with his big left. Canelo did eventually land a big left hook in the 9th round that got Mayweather’s attention. Once Canelo caught him with a hard left hook, Mayweather got on his bike and used his boxing skills for the remainder of the fight to win an easy decision.
“I think Canelo Alvarez,” said actor Danny Trejo to TMZ.com in picking Canelo over Chavez Jr. “I think Canelo Alvarez is the more dedicated fighter. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., I don’t think he has the same dedication. He might be good and bigger and all that, but hey, training is 75 percent of fighting. He’s got the beast, and honestly, I think he’s going to take it,” said Trejo about Canelo.
It’s going to be hard for Chavez Jr. to make up all those years in which he didn’t fight often. It’s going to be difficult for him. Canelo has been fighting two times a year for the last five years. Chavez Jr. fought once in 2016, two times in 2015, once in 2014 and 2013. In other words, Chavez Jr. has had 3 years out of the last 5 years in which he fought just once in each of those years.
“I think that’s going to be a good fight,” said Trejo about a potential Canelo vs. Gennady Golovkin fight in September. “I don’t know who can stand up to Triple G. I think Canelo. I think Canelo will be better against Triple G after this fight. I think it’s going to be a great fight him and Triple G, because Triple G has that same monster,” said Trejo.
The Golovkin-Canelo fight will be a great one if it happens this year. If Golden Boy wants to drag it out until 2018, then I don’t think it’ll change much. Golovkin will still be the same fighter next years he is now. Canelo and De La Hoya will take a lot of criticism from boxing fans if they don’t fight GGG in 2017 because of all the talking that De La Hoya has done about wanting to make the fight with Golovkin this year.