SONAHR: May 10, 2015 – The surreally violent encounter between middleweights Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns back in 1985 remains the greatest three-round fight in boxing history. However, Saturday?s three-round war between junior-middleweights Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez and James Kirkland, fought at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, isn?t far behind.
Back then, Hagler lived up to his ?Destruct and Destroy? motto by knocking Hearns out after suffering a cut that seemed about to prompt the referee to stop the fight. Alvarez was never in that kind of danger, but Kirkland was so aggressive, and hit so hard, that Canelo needed to get him out of there in a hurry. Mission accomplished.
Although Alvarez was favored to win, Kirkland always had the proverbial ?puncher?s chance? to pull off an upset. He stormed out of his corner in the first round, determined to knock Alvarez into the cheap seats, similar to the way Hearns went after Hagler from the outset. Canelo weathered the storm, then sent Kirkland crashing to the canvas. Kirkland got up, but he was in trouble, and he just barely made it to the bell.
Instead of wilting, though, Kirkland came out strong in the second and again took the fight to Alvarez. Although he wasn?t able to floor the Mexican idol, he showed that wasn?t afraid to march into the teeth of Alvarez?s arsenal to unload his own big guns. You had to wonder how long these two could keep up the torrid pace they were setting.
Not much longer, as it turned out. Alvarez overpowered Kirkland in the third, knocking him down twice to earn the stoppage win. Whatever demons may have haunted him since the humiliating boxing lesson Floyd Mayweather Jr. gave him in 2013 were certainly exorcised on Saturday. Once again, Alvarez was the warrior who electrified boxing fans on both sides of the Rio Grande.
Kirkland is a warrior as well. But he has a fatal flaw ? a prime-suspect chin that simply cannot withstand the impact of a punch from a world-class opponent. He will always be fun to watch. However, he needs to take a long, hard look at his future. Sooner or later, the wars he has fought will catch up with him.
As for Alvarez, the future looks bright. In the wake of his win over Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather said his intends to vacate his welterweight and junior-middleweight titles and retire after one more fight. That would leave the top of the 154-pound division wide-open. The only junior-middleweight who would trouble him ? other than Mayweather ? is Erislandy Lara, who dropped a close decision to Alvarez last year.
And if Canelo wants to move up to middleweight, the field is fertile there as well. Indeed, he was supposed to meet Miguel Cotto for the WBC title this year, but that fight fell through. Alvarez would be favored in that matchup, as he is on the rise and Cotto?s age and inactivity would work against him.
That leaves 160-pound dreadnought Gennady Golovkin. At this point, GGG would have to be the favorite in a bout with Canelo. But the fireworks they would display in the ring would match those produced by Alvarez-Kirkland ? and maybe even Hagler-Hearns. Provided Golovkin doesn?t decide to make the jump to super-middleweight, look for the stars to align on a Golovkin-Alvarez superfight in the near future.
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His novels, Imaro, Damballa, and Abengoni: First Calling are available at Amazon.com.
