Canelo: Miguel Cotto fight could happen in September

canelo565By Dan Ambrose: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) says he expects to get a title shot against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) later this year in September. If it doesn’t happen then, Canelo sees the fight happening at some point in the future. He sees the fight as inevitable.

Canelo doesn’t have much to worry about because Cotto definitely will be facing him this year after the two of them get through with their next fights. Cotto faces former IBF/WBA middleweight champion Daniel Geale (31-3, 16 KOs) on June 6th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

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Canelo ready to go 12 rounds with Kirkland if he has to

LOS ANGELES (April 22) – Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) and Texas knockout artist James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) participated in an international media conference call on Tuesday, April 21 to discuss their upcoming 12-round super welterweight bout set for May 9 at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The super welterweight fight will also be televised live on May 9 on HBO World Championship Boxing ® at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Canelo and Kirkland were joined by Oscar De La Hoya, President and Founder of Golden Boy Promotions; Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Chairman and CEO of SMS Promotions; Chepo Reynoso, manager and co-trainer for Canelo Alvarez; Eddy Reynoso, head trainer for Canelo Alvarez; Bay Bay McClinton, strength and conditioning trainer for James Kirkland; Mike Battah, President of Leija*Battah Promotions; and Jesse James Leija, Texas boxing legend and Founder of Leija*Battah Promotions on today’s media conference call. Below is what they had to say:

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Canelo says he has right game plan for Kirkland fight

canelo5556By Dan Ambrose: #1 WBC, #2 WBA junior middleweight contender Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) feels confident that his team has put together the perfect game plan to defeat the rusty 2nd tier fighter James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) in 18 days from now on May 9th at the Minute Maid Park, in Houston, Texas, USA.

Kirkland hasn’t fought since beating Glen Tapia in 2013. That’s a nice two year layoff. The casual fans have no clue about Kirkland being out of action for two years. Few casual fans are aware of that. A layoff like that will definitely give the 24-year-old Canelo a huge advantage in this fight.

Canelo says he has a great strategy to beat Kirkland. It’s pretty easy to predict it will be. You’ve got a fighter in Kirkland who hasn’t fought in two years, and he’s had to take off close to 50 pounds of blubber in slightly less than three months’ time.

It seems logical that Canelo will look to push a fast pace after the first four rounds go by to try and wear what will likely be a weight-drained and very rusty Kirkland down.

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De La Hoya: Show your May-Pac ticket & I’ll send you to Canelo-Kirkland for free

de la hoya95By Raj Parmar: Golden Boy Promotions head Oscar De La Hoya is looking on at the escalating ticket crisis for the upcoming Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao super fight at the MGM Grand and is taking the opportunity to mock the situation as the fight rapidly approaches. Both Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank are currently working out on how to distribute the highly demanded tickets which have not gone out on sale to the public as yet.

“Send me a pic. Of your May-Pac ticket and I’ll send you to the #Canelo-Kirkland fight for free. You have 24hrs,” Oscar stated on his twitter account.

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Canelo: We have the right strategy to beat Kirkland

SAN DIEGO (April 20) – Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) today hosted a media workout at the House of Boxing in San Diego in advance of his fight against Texas titan James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) on May 9 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas and telecast live on HBO World Championship Boxing ®.

Oscar De La Hoya, President and Founder of Golden Boy Promotions, Canelo Alvarez’ manager and co-trainer, Chepo Reynoso and head trainer Eddy Reynoso were all on hand for today’s media day. Below is what Team Canelo had to say:

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Kirkland will need to make adjustments against Canelo

KirklandSAWorkout_Hoganphotos(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) By Dan Ambrose: The ring rusty James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) is definitely going to need to adapt to some of the things that former WBA/WBC 154lb champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) is doing in the ring next month in their battle on May 9th on HBO Championship Boxing at the Minute Maid Park, in Houston, Texas, USA.

Kirkland, 31, has never been a particularly skillful fighter. He’s always been someone who got the better of his opposition with his power and his nonstop pressure.

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Canelo could have problems against Kirkland, says Rios

canelo5556By Dan Ambrose: Former WBO lightweight champion Brandon Rios think Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) in could be in for a tough time in his fight against James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) in their fight on May 9th next month at the Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas, USA. Rios still sees the Kirkland fight as a dangerous one for the 24-year-old Canelo despite the fact that Kirkland hasn’t fought in over a year, and has put on a lot of weight with his time out of the ring.

Rios expects Kirkland to be the same dangerous fighter that has always been. That might be asking a lot of a fighter who has only fought a handful of times in the last four years of his career.

On the face of it, Canelo looks to have been matched against someone that his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions think he can beat. They didn’t match him again with Erislandy Lara to clear up the controversy surrounding the decision that Canelo won last year in July.

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Humberto Soto vs. Frankie Gomez on Canelo-Kirkland undercard on May 9th

soto423464By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya will be taking a big risk with his unbeaten fighter #8 IBF light welterweight contender Frankie Gomez (18-0, 13 KOs) in matching him against 34-year-old former two division world champion Humberto Soto (65-8-2, 35 KOs) on May 9th on the undercard of the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. James Kirkland fight at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.

The fights, Canelo-Kirkland and Gomez-Soto, will be televised on HBO.

#8 IBF Gomez hasn’t fought anyone near the same class as Soto before in his career. The closest thing that Gomez has gotten to fighting someone like Soto is his recent fight against Vernon Paris, who Gomez defeated by a lopsided 10 round decision last year in July.

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Kirkland has a puncher’s chance against Canelo, says Berto

canelo99887(Photo Credit: HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions) By Dan Ambrose: WBA interim welterweight champion Andre Berto is giving slugger James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) a puncher’s chance of beating former WBA/WBC 154lb champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) in their fight in two months from now on May 9th at the Minute Maid Park, in Houston, Texas, USA.

Berto, 31, feels that the 31-year-old Kirkland’s ring rust could work against him in this fight because Kirkland hasn’t fought since December 2013 when he defeated Glen Tapia.

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Kirkland ready to bring it against Canelo on May 9th

CaneloKirklandSAPC_Hoganphotos4(Photo Credit: HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions) By Dan Ambrose: For the first time in Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s boxing career he’ll be facing a puncher with power equal to his own when he faces James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) in their catch-weight fight at 155 pounds on May 9th at the Minute Maid Stadium in Houston, Texas.

This is a fight that would have been a tossup had it taken place six years ago when Kirkland was fighting on a regular basis, but he now only fights infrequently. He’s gotten heavy and he hasn’t fought since December 2013 when he beat Glen Tapia by a 6th round TKO. Still, it’s difficult to really predict how Kirkland will do against Canelo, because it’s a fight that could very well go Kirkland’s way if he’s in shape and sharp.

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