LOS ANGELES (May 12) – After an electrifying night at Minute Maid Park in Houston where more than 31,000 fans gathered to watch live on May 9, Canelo vs. Kirkland brought in a stunning number of viewers on HBO World Championship Boxing (WCB) with an average viewership of 2,146,000 for the live, first-time airing on HBO and peaked at 2,296,000 viewers. Canelo vs. Kirkland is the top-performing bout on HBO’s flagship boxing platform since the Antonio Tarver-Bernard Hopkins light heavyweight title battle delivered 2,460,000 viewers in 2006. This also marked the Mexican superstar’s first appearance as a headliner on the HBO WCB platform.
Canelo-Kirkland
Canelo to fight next in September or October
(Photo Credit:Ed Mulholland/Golden Boy/Golden Boy via Getty Images) By Dan Ambrose: #1 WBC, #2 WBA junior middleweight contender Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) says he’ll be back inside the ring in either September or October against an opponent still to be determined.
Canelo would obviously like that opponent to be WBC middleweight belt holder Miguel Cotto, but that’s unlikely given how long it takes for Cotto to negotiate fights with his opposition.
De La Hoya: Canelo vs. Golovkin will be a huge fight down the road
(Photo Credit:Ed Mulholland/Golden Boy/Golden Boy via Getty Images) By Dan Ambrose: With Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s impressive 3rd round knockout win over James Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) last Saturday night, boxing fans want to knock if Canelo is finally ready to step inside the ring with WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. After all, Canelo has fought three straight fights in the middleweight division in catch-weighs of 155 pounds.
Canelo himself said last night that a fight between him and Golovkin will have to wait until the future because the two of them are fighting in different divisions at the moment, even though Canelo’s last three fights have taken place in the same division as Golovkin.
Canelo and Kirkland kick start boxing’s heartbeat
(Photo Credit:Ed Mulholland/Golden Boy/Golden Boy via Getty Images) By Robbie Bannatyne: After the bland, banal and utterly boring Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao ‘super fight’ boxing badly need an entertaining bout to breathe new life back into the sport.
Last night Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s fists were the defibrillators that kick started boxing’s ailing heart beat as he blasted out James Kirkland over three brutal rounds in Texas.
Canelo crushes Kirkland
HOUSTON (May 10) – In front of more than 31,000 raucous fans Minute Maid Park in Houston, super welterweight sensation Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) knocked out Texas’ James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) with a thunderous right hand in the middle of the third-round, capping a sensational performance that saw the 24-year-old drop Kirkland in the first and deliver a number of huge shots before the eventual end of the fight. The fight was broadcast live on HBO World Championship Boxing®.
Canelo stops Kirkland in 3rd round KO
(Photo Credit:Ed Mulholland/Golden Boy/Golden Boy via Getty Images) By Dan Ambrose: In a predictable outcome, former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) knocked out the ring rusty James Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) by a 3rd round knockout on Saturday night at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Canelo knocked Kirkland down three times in the fight. The fight was halted at 2:19 of the 3rd after Canelo dropped Kirkland with a right hand to the head. Canelo knocked Kirkland down once in the 1st and twice in the 3rd round.
Canelo with a lot to prove tonight against Kirkland
(Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/Golden Boy/Golden Boy via Getty Images) By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions believe that they have the replacement for Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao as the sport’s No.1 pay-per-view attraction in middleweight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs). I say middleweight because Canelo hasn’t fought at junior middleweight in close to two years. Canelo’s fight tonight against James Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) will be held at middleweight at a catch-weight of 155 pounds at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Canelo says he’s ready to assume the rope as the No.1 PPV attraction once Mayweather and Pacquiao step away from the game. Just how long Canelo can hold down the top PPV spot will largely rest on how his promoter Oscar De La Hoya matches him.
Weights: Canelo 154.5, Kirkland 154.5, Gomez vs. Soto fight called off
By Dan Ambrose: In a clear sign that it might be time for light welterweight contender Frankie Gomez to start thinking about moving up to welterweight, he failed to make weight today for his now cancelled fight against former two division world champion Humberto Soto on Saturday at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Canelo vs Kirkland Live On BoxNation This Saturday
LONDON (May 8) – Mexican ace Canelo Alvarez says he is ready to claim the … read more
Canelo can’t afford to lose to Kirkland
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.