Canelo: the biggest draw in boxing

by Samuel Rosenberg

WBA.com

Canelo has become the kind of boxer that people love or hate. The boxing forums are filled with adverse or favorable opinions in the days before any fight by Saul Alvarez. The truth is that everyone talks about him and monopolizes all the attention, which has made him the most commercial boxer in the face of boxing today.

It is obvious that Canelo is not only a media phenomenon, as everything is possible thanks to the great boxing skills he has developed and that have allowed him to beat the strongest men in the world. In addition, he has obtained the Super Middleweight Championship of the World Association of Boxing (WBA) along with his other great feats over the years. The native of Guadalajara will make the first defense of the belt that he won in September of 2018 when defeating champion Gennady Golovkin.

In December, Alvarez faced Britain’s Rocky Fielding in the top division and knocked him out to capture the 168-pound belt. Now, he will return to his usual weight against an opponent that is possibly the most complicated he can face right currently.

He has a physical disadvantage with respect to Jacobs, but this has generally been the case in the middleweight class for him. Alvarez compensates the disadvantage with his speed and strategy. He has managed to adapt to 160 pounds and has won battles that some people did not think possible to become the champion he is today.

The contribution of Canelo to current boxing is very important. He showed that, despite what some may say, the sport is still alive. He signed a contract with DAZN, which outweighs agreements of superstars of other sports, in a large payout that directly benefits Alvarez while some question how DAZN can make money and stay afloat on a such a huge offer for a subscription platform service and would simply say; enjoy it while it lasts.

Right now, Alvarez has only lost one fight in his career. It was in 2013 against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and since that time he has accumulated a streak of 10 matches won without a loss. The face of boxing returns to the T-Mobile Arena to commemorate, along with his Mexican compatriots, May 5th, and the eyes of the world will be on him again because he is the big man in boxing.