By Brad Slotnick: Tickets are now on sales starting today for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Callum Smith fight on December 19th, live on DAZN at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. There will be limited capacity for the Canelo-Smith fight with social distancing between the seats at the Alamodome.
Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) will have his WBA Super World super-middleweight title on the line, and the Ring Magazine strap will also be up for grabs for his match against superstar Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs.
Alvarez will be fighting for the second time at 168, and he’s out to prove that he belongs at the top of the division. Many boxing fans view Callum as the #1 fighter in the super-middleweight division today. So if Canelo can unseat him from that position, he’ll take over as the new #1 at 168.
Canelo returning to Texas
Seven years ago, the then 23-year-old Alvarez defeated WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout by a 12 round unanimous decision in a unification fight at the Alamodome.
That was the first time that Canelo had fought at the venue. On December 19th, Canelo, 30, will be returning to the Alamodome to take on the dangerous knockout artist Callum Smith in a fight that will be sure to interest boxing fans.
In Canelo’s other fights during his career in Texas, he dismantled WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith by a ninth-round knockout in September 2016 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
In May 2015, Alvarez knocked out the always dangerous James Kirkland by a third-round knockout in an action-packed fight at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. That was a fight in which both Canelo and Kirkland were hurt by big shots.
During the pandemic, the advantage of fighting in Texas is competing in front of live crowds. Texas is one of the states in the U.S that is willing to allow live sporting events to take place, but with socially distanced seating.
Smith wants revenge for his brother
For Callum, this is personal for him, as he wants to avenge his older brother Liam Smith’s defeat at Canelo’s hands in 2016. Although Liam would prefer to be the one to face Canelo, it’s own Callum to be the one from the Smith family to even the score with the popular Mexican star.
Liam wanted a rematch with Canelo, but he’s failed to get one due to his 12 round unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Jaime Munguia in July 2018. That loss spoiled Liam’s chances of getting a second clash with Alvarez, who has gone on to do big things since then.
A victory for Callum will not only enable him to get revenge for his brother but also place him near the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.
There’s nothing bigger than this for the 6’3″ Smith, seeing that he has everything to gain from this fight. It’s less meaningful for Canelo to take on Smith since he’s not a big star and isn’t well known to the casual boxing fans in the United States.
Jacobs previews Canelo vs. Smith
“What I’ve learned from that fight is what I’ve already done, and that’s moved up to the super middleweight division,” said Daniel Jacobs when asked what he learned from his fight against Canelo.
“What can Callum do? I think he has to create a great game plan to beat Canelo. He has a lot of advantages, but his main disadvantage is probably the experience. Sometimes a fighter is in a new situation where the lights and the camera is on them, and sometimes they fold.
“We never know. I can’t give a prediction, but in order for Caleb to be successful, he would have to use his strengths and cater to his strengths. It’ll be an interesting fight, but I can’t predict a winner,” said Jacobs.
“I think I wasn’t able to be my 100% self or be able to give it my best go that I could because of the weight clause and weight restrictions on top of having a hard time making the middleweight division. Now that I’m extremely fit, I don’t have weight as an issue anymore; I’m super hydrated.
“I think it’s going t be different every time out. In my performances, you’re going to see a different Danny Jacobs. People even predicted that me moving up and fighting Chavez, I wasn’t going to be the same because of my past performances,” Jacobs said.