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 Gerardo Granados: This Saturday, May 9th at the Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas, former WBC/WBC light middleweight belt holder Saul Canelo Alvarez W44(31)-L1-D1 will fight against once promising light middle contender James Kirkland W32(28)-L1-D0 in a fight that has the responsibility to make fight fans remember why it is so exciting to watch prize fighting.
Oscar de la Hoya twitted “Call me old school but I like the fans getting their money’s worth by watching an action packed fight.” And at a press conference Bernard Hopkins already made sure the boxers were fit to fight without any hidden injuries.
By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) is still trying to rebuild his once promising career following his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013, and his poor performance against Erislandy Lara last year in July.
Canelo, 24, says he wants a rematch against Mayweather because he feels he’s learned new things since their fight two years ago. Canelo was pretty well schooled by Mayweather in 2013.
By Dan Ambrose: In what appears to be a shot at the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao fight, promoter Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions says that this Saturday catch-weight fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) and James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) won’t have any running when the two of them meet each other at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
De La Hoya is predicting the fight will be a slugfest from start to finish, and he could be right unless Canelo retreats to the ropes and fights defensively like he did in his fight against Austin Trout in 2013.
By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions President turned down the idea of putting his flagship fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1 31 kOs) back in the ring with Erislandy Lara to clear up the controversy of their fight last year.
Instead, De La Hoya told Lara to get in the back of the line for another shot at Canelo, even though it’s a fight that Canelo needed more than Lara. So instead of De La Hoya doing to smart thing by putting Canelo back in with Lara, he’s picked out an inactive fighter James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) for Canelo to fight this Saturday night at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Canelo Alvarez and James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland hosted an open-to-the-public media workout in Houston on Wednesday, May 6 at Minute Maid Park in advance of their highly anticipated clash on May 9 at Minute Maid Park and live on HBO World Championship Boxing ®. Hundreds of fans came out to the stadium to watch their favorites get in the ring ahead of Saturday’s mega-fight.
In one of the most-anticipated events on the action-packed HBO Boxing calendar, the brightest, fastest-rising star in the sport meets one of his toughest challenges to date when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: CANELO ALVAREZ VS. JAMES KIRKLAND AND HUMBERTO SOTO VS. FRANKIE GOMEZ is seen SATURDAY, MAY 9 at 9:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from Minute Maid Park in Houston, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will be ringside to call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
By Dan Ambrose: This Saturday night a big crowd is expected for the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) vs. James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) fight at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. According to Fight news, Golden boy Promotions match-maker Eric Gomez expects a huge crowd showing up to see the two fighters.
Over 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the fight. The Minute Maid Park maximum seating capacity is 40,963. By Saturday the venue could be close to selling out.
By Prof Johny: While last Saturday ended up being a major letdown for everyone but the Vegas bookies with the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao clash in Las Vegas, Nevada, this coming Saturday on May 9th has a far better chance of being the all action fight we hoped we would get between Floyd and Manny.
Saul Canelo Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) will be fighting James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) at a catch-weight of 155 pounds in middleweight action at Minute Maid Park in Houston,Texas will be an exciting match-up that would have been an amazing undercard bout on the Mayweather-Pacquiao card. Unfortunately Canelo is with Golden Boy promotions who had zero interaction with the Mayweather fight card last Saturday night.
Breaking down the fight: Kirkland has had a year and half long layoff since his last fight in 2013, his ring rust, or lack their of will be crucial for him, as he has had some rough first rounds before and almost been knocked out.