Photo by Tom Casino/Showtime
With his best performance since his knockout victory over Josesito Lopez, Canelo Alvarez looked amazing in pounding Alfredo Angulo in 10 rounds on Saturday, March 8, 2014.
According to Boxing News 24, during the post-fight press conference, Erislandy Lara walked up to Canelo and took the chance to publicly call the Mexican star out.
Canelo playfully mocked this challenge and told him that “this isn’t how you make fights so you will have to wait.”
Wait he will, but for how long?
Canelo has two more fights scheduled for the year. One in July and the last in November.
So lets take a look at some possible opponents and which fighters make sense.
Erislandy Lara, current WBA Jr. Middleweight champ, is a terrific boxer with power in both hands. With a safety first approach, Lara makes for bad television and is a high risk, low reward fight for Canelo. The chance of this fight happening are slim.
Carlos Molina, current IBF Jr. Middleweight champ is an awkward, move-forward boxer with not a lot of power, but makes tough fights for fighters.
Ask Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Kermit Cintron and Ishe Smith about Molina’s toughness. The chances of this fight happening are moderate.
James Kirkland is a move forward southpaw with bad defense, average hand speed and explosive punching power makes for great television.
Kirkland would be a great opponent for Canelo, just like Angulo was. The chances of this fight happening are moderate.
Miguel Cotto is a a fan favorite who had some wear and tear on his body, but his name guarantee’s ratings and butts in the seats.
Going back to his old ways of power boxing and letting his left hand loose is a wise choice for this veteran. The chances of this fight happening really depend on the outcome of the Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez fight.
If Cotto is able to win that fight or even look good in a loss, the chances of him fighting Canelo are very good.
Sergio Martinez is a cagey and smart Middleweight kingpin who’s hands low and move side-to-side attack has worked for years. But, it seems as though age is finally catching up to him.
Martinez has said in the past that he can still make the Jr. Middleweight limit, but we would have to see if he wants to after the Cotto bout. The chances of this fight happening are great.
Martinez wants big money bouts and this will be the biggest in his career and it keeps Gennady Golovkin waiting for one more year.
With that being said, Canelo should have a great year, and if Saturday night showed anything, he can be a pay-per-view fighter and star in the sport.
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Header photo by Esther Lin/Showtime