Santos Saul Álvarez Barragán, better known as Canelo, which translates to ‘cinnamon’ for his fiery red hair, has spiced up the boxing scene since his debut. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1990, this pugilist has clinched world championships across four weight divisions, making him a staple in the Hall of Fame pantry. Canelo unified titles in three divisions and claimed lineal championships in two, notably overpowering Miguel Cotto in 2015 for the WBC, Ring, and lineal middleweight crowns. Outside the ring, Canelo’s life is just as sweet, sharing it with his two kids, Emily Cinnamon Alvarez and Mía Ener Álvarez, and his wife, Fernanda Gómez, since 2021. According to Forbes, Canelo is worth at least $275 million!
By Scott Gilfoid: Liam Smith’s trainer Joe Gallagher has some crazy visions in his head about a future fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. for Smith if he beats Mexican superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez this Saturday night in their match on HBO pay-per-view at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Gallagher thinks that once Smith whips Canelo, the retired Mayweather will call them up and look to make the fight. It sounds like a pretty farfetched pipe dream if you ask me. It’s not as if Canelo hasn’t already been beaten. We saw him lose to Mayweather already and arguably lose to Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout.
By Dan Ambrose: Joe Gallagher, the trainer for WBO light middleweight champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 14 KOs), has put challenger Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs), and his team on notice that if he fails to make the 154 pound limit for the fight at the weigh-in on Friday, then there will NOT be a fight this Saturday night on September 17 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Gallagher is not going to have his fighter Smith going out there to fight a guy that didn’t make weight for the fight in Canelo. The reason why Gallagher has decided to play hardball could have to do with the rumors that have been circulating around about Canelo being overweight and not close to the 154lb limit.
By Scott Gilfoid: Kell Brook will be eagerly awaiting the outcome of this Saturday’s fight between WBO junior middleweight champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1-33 KOs) for their fight on HBO pay-per-view. Brook, 30, wants to fight the winner of the contest once his broken right eye socket is healed and he’s given the all clear from the doctors for him to return to the boxing ring to resume his career.
Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn says that HBO is interested in a Canelo vs. Brook fight. It’s hard to know why though, because Brook just lost his last fight against unbeaten IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) last Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, England.
By Dan Ambrose: WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) doesn’t see Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) as a full junior middleweight at this point in his career. Despite Canelo insisting that he’s a 154lb fighter, he clearly isn’t. He’s a full blown middleweight that boils down to 155 for catch-weight fights.
It’s got to be hard enough for Canelo to get down to 155, and now he’s going to be trying to go down to 154 to challenge the 28-year-old Smith for his World Boxing Organization title. Smith thinks that the only reason Canelo is choosing to fight him for his WBO 154lb title is to get cover for vacating his WBC middleweight title in order to steer around a fight against Gennady Golovkin.
By Dan Ambrose: In has to be seen as an upside world, Kell Brook’s failure against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin last Saturday night could be rewarded with a big money fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez next May. Instead of Golovkin getting the fight against Canelo, it appears that the interest is in Brook getting the fight.
Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn is saying that HBO is interested in televising a fight between Brook and Canelo Alvarez. The fight would take place in early 2017 if Brook’s broken eight socket is healed by then. Hearn said this to IFL TV:
SMITH: “WHEN CANELO LOSES HIS TEAM WILL DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO MAKE THE REMATCH”
America’s boxing media flocked to the Gaylord Texan Resort in Arlington today as reigning WBO Junior Middlweight Champion Liam ‘Beefy’ Smith put on a show for the cameras ahead of his blockbuster showdown with Mexican star Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. The history-making Liverpudlian looked in sensational form as he was put through his paces by trainer Joe Gallagher.
Speaking to Ring TV after his workout Smith said: “It’s not the biggest fight of (Canelo’s) career now, but when he loses it will be and his team will do everything possible to get the rematch. Yes, I’m the champion and it’s my biggest fight, but it’s a fight I’ve asked for since I became champion.
By Dan Ambrose: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) will be fighting WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) this Saturday night in a fight in the 154lb division. Canelo says the junior middleweight division is his natural weight where he feels the strongest, and that he will continue to fight in this weight class until he feels he’s grown out of it.
That’s potentially bad news for boxing fans that were hoping that the 26-year-old Canelo would move up in weight to fight IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin next year. Canelo seems to be resistant to the idea of him moving up in weight.
With September being National Hispanic Heritage Month, former two-division world champion Canelo Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) will take back Mexican Independence Day weekend for Latino fight fans in his upcoming battle against WBO Junior Middleweight World Champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs). Reclaiming the distinctive weekend is a greater symbol of the arrival of Canelo Alvarez to the very top of the sport, as the last Mexican fighter who owned the action-packed weekend was Golden Boy Promotions’ Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya.
The prized Mexican Independence weekend was a tradition started by the legend himself, Julio Cesar Chavez. Chavez’s relentless Mexican style of attack is what made holiday weekends worthy of gathering family and friends together to watch the matches – a legacy that all Mexican boxers strove to live up to. That legacy was officially passed on to Oscar De La Hoya in a career defining match on September 18, 1998, where De La Hoya met with Cesar Chavez in the ring for the WBC World welterweight title. From that point on, the “Golden Boy” was in charge of headlining on the two biggest dates for the Latino fan base – Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo weekends.
Though some of boxing’s biggest and most talented fighters come from all over Latin America, the September 17 weekend is not just for Mexican fight fans – but all Latinos who share a passion for boxing.
Here is what Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya and Latino Fighters of the Canelo-Smith card had to say about fighting on the historic weekend:
By Dan Ambrose: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) will be making the next step in his career this Saturday night when he faces unbeaten World Boxing Organization junior middleweight champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) on HBO pay-per-view from the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This is a fight that Golden Boy and Canelo both wanted.
Canelo did an odd thing in giving up his WBC middleweight title to steer around a fight against Gennady Golovkin and then move back down to 154 to fight Liam Smith. On the fact of it, Canelo appears to be ducking the Golovkin fight to take an easier target in 27-year-old Smith. Will it be an easier fight for Canelo?
By Scott Gilfoid: Despite getting stopped in the 5th round and suffering a broken right eye socket in the loss to Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, welterweight Kell Brook says he wants to fight the winner of this Saturday’s match between WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) feels like the 154lb division will be a better one for him, and that he’ll do better in this weight class than he showed against the unbeaten IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC 160lb champion Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs). Indeed, Brook thinks he can dominate the division, which is hard to believe because the guys in that division punch very hard.
