ANAHEIM, CA.
Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez is not like any other Mexican fighter. In fact, he does not even look Mexican.
Porcelain colored freckled skin, fiery cinnamon hair and legs of a lumberjack he is visually an interstellar mile away from his more esteemed puglilistic contemporaries. Already one of the biggest sporting stars in his native MexicoAlvarez also fights differently from any of his esteemed colleagues such as Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.
On Saturday night ?Canelo? (cinnamon in Spanish) spent twelve rounds walking methodically towards his opponent, surgically slicing his rib cage with left hooks that made HBO analyst Max Kellerman exclaim that they do not sound like normal punches. Roy Jones Jr. ringside simply said, ?the kid has got heavy hands.?
Each wince-inducing hook to the body left acres of space open for the Alvarez to tenderize the head of his opponent that night, Matthew Hatton, younger brother of former world champion Ricky Hatton. The fact that Hatton lasted the twelve rounds was a testament to the courage that ran through the vains of the Enlgishman as opposed to the failure of the 20 year-old Alvarez.
When the final bell rang he became the youngest junior middleweight champion in history, superceeding a record held by the great Fernando Vargas since 1998.
Throughout the night the crowd that had packed into the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. cheered every punch thrown by their ginger hero. After the fight concluded, the crowd hung on to every word and cheered euphorically after every utterance. When most fighters make post-fight remarks to the sound of the backs of seats hitting upright, ?Canelo?s? were to the whooping and whistling.
While some may remain sceptical about the abilities of this latest Mexican sensation one thing is certain. He is 20 years-old and can pack out an arena with nearly 12,000 spectators against an average, European level fighter.
In an era when few fighters generate the sort of hype, interest and potential earnings of Alvarez he is a blessing to a sport where the biggest stars either do not fight often enough in the twighlight of their careers (Manny Pacquiao) or fight at all (Floyd Mayweather). Saul Alvarez has the potential to take over a mantle that Manny Pacquiao took over from Oscar de la Hoya, one that Floyd Mayweather never wanted to pick up.
Whether he has the potential that some people are ascribing to him is yet to be seen but boxing is blessed to have Saul Alvarez.
