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 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.
By Dan Ambrose: Former two division world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) has a fight this month on September 17 against WBO 154lb champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) that he should be focusing on because he could lose the match if he’s not on his A-game. Canelo says he wants to be seen as one of the top Mexican fighters of all time in boxing, and he feels that he’s slowly working his way to that area.
Canelo says that Mexican fighters take on everyone. Unfortunately, Canelo hasn’t yet gotten to that point in his career where he’s following that model. Canelo still hasn’t fought Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Demetrius Andrade, Jermell Charlo, Julian Williams and Jermall Charlo. There are a numer of very, very good fighters that Canelo still has not fought.
Fighters featured on the undercard of Canelo vs. Smith today hosted a Los Angeles media workout at City of Angels Boxing ahead of their upcoming fights on September 17, 2017 at the home of the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
As the co-main event to the mega-fight between Canelo Alvarez and Liam Smith, “King” Gabriel Rosado (23-9, 13 KOs, 1 NC) of Philadelphia, will face former world title challenger Willie “El Mongoose” Monroe, Jr. (20-2, 6 KOs) of Rochester, N.Y. in a 12-round middleweight bout. Also on the televised undercard, 2012 U.S. Olympian Joseph “Jojo” Diaz, Jr. (21-0, 12 KOs) of So. El Monte, Calif.
By Dan Ambrose: Despite many boxing fans and members of the media having doubts whether Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will fight middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin next year in September 2017, Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya says the plan is still for him to take the fight with the Kazakhstan fighter next year.
In the meantime, De La Hoya wants Canelo to slowly build up to the middleweight weight limit of 160lbs by fighting against WBO junior middleweight champion Liam Smith at 154 pounds this month on September 17, and then fight in December in the middleweight division, and then one last fight in May of 2017 before facing Golovkin in September 2017.
