Golden Boy’s latest prospect, Saul “El Canelo” Alvarez, seems to be on the fast track to a big money bout with Manny Pacquiao, but in Golden Boy’s rush to engineer a massive payday for themselves, are throwing the likable 20-year old from Guadalajara, Mexico under the bus?
Look at any article on Alvarez. Almost all have at least some sort of mention of Manny Pacquiao. The brain trust of Richard Schaefer and Oscar De la Hoya seem dead set on sending their kid into battle with boxing’s current cash cow…sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately for them, their red-headed phenom would likely be beaten like a red-headed step-son by Pacquiao if the fight takes place anytime within the next 3-4 years or so.
Alvarez, at barely 20-years of age and with only tired old names like Carlos Baldomir and Lovemore N’dou standing out on his resume, is nowhere near ready for someone like Pacquiao or, really, anyone else at the elite level.
In a recent interview with Boxingscene.com, Alvarez talked about what he would do if matched up against the current top dog at 147: “What I would have to work on is to be fast. I might not be as fast as him, but I would have to be fast as well. Basically, styles make fights…if you give him angles and box him, he doesn’t look quite as fast.”
Maybe his assessment is correct, but he has never shown any of those skills he would need to pull off the upset and is probably 2-3 years and about a half-dozen fights away from even being able to think about perfecting those skills.
No doubt, Alvarez is a very good prospect who seems right on pace for a professional fighter, just two years removed from high school. He’s big, extremely strong and has a reputation as a hard worker.
However, if Golden Boy is looking to market him as the one to beat “The Mexicutioner” and avenge names such as Barrera, Morales, Marquez, and De la Hoya, they really need to re-think their strategy.
HBO analyst, Larry Merchant, seems to support the push to match Manny against “El Canelo.” He’s gone on record as saying that Alvarez-Pacquiao should happen at some point in 2011, but Merchant is probably the only one, other than Schaefer and De la Hoya, who wants to see it.
Hopefully, Golden Boy puts the brakes on and develops their young talent properly rather than offer him up to be sacrificed for one big paycheck.
