For the second time in 2011, HBO is airing Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. and Saul Alvarez in close proximity on the calendar, with the idea that the two presposterously popular young Mexicans will eventually get in the kind of physical proximity that can be confined by a 20-foot ring in what would be one of the biggest-money fights in boxing. This Saturday it’s Chavez; next weekend it’s Alvarez. The network pulled a similar trick in June, and if all goes according to plan, these will be the last pre-fight fights for the pair.
The opponents — Peter Manfredo, Jr. and Kermit Cintron, respectively — are feasible, if not frightening, threats to the prospects of Chavez vs. Alvarez, and they share a history of having fought on NBC in a time when boxing hasn’t had much exposure on the big four networks. Manfredo is a step down in competition for Chavez, who got quite the unexpected scare in his last fight against Sebastian Zbik. Manfredo is an earnest middleweight, can box a little and more often than not brings it, but he’s also on his last legs. In theory, he’ll put up a fun fight against Chavez — who, at his best, is pretty fun himself — before likely losing.
Manfredo, most famous for appearing on NBC’s “The Contender” back in 2005 and popular in his hometown of Providence, R.I., has lost badly to divisional top-10 names Joe Calzaghe and Sakio Bika but also lesser lights Sergio Mora, Alfonso Gomez and faded Jeff Lacy. He was struggling for several rounds with journeyman Daniel Edouard in his last fight before Edouard foolishly dropped his hands coming out of a clinch and Manfredo clipped and dropped him. Edouard never got his legs back and Manfredo controlled the rest of the fight to get the decision. Manfredo’s best wins are over people on Edouard’s level or a bit better, like Scott Pemberton and David Banks.
Manfredo isn’t blessed with any natural ability of note, and might be more cursed by the lack of it. He isn’t fast, to say the least. He has flashed big power in both hands at times, as he did against Edouard with a right hand and a surprising Knockout of the Year candidate over Walid Smichet via a left hand in 2008. Those, though, are exceptions. What he does have is some toughness, sometimes an excess of it, like when he opted to trade punches toe-to-toe with Bika despite that being a horrible, horrible strategy. And when he wants to, he can box a bit — he puts his punches together well, has a decent jab and can move his feet. I say “a bit” because on the defensive side of the sweet science, he’s sorely lacking, mainly because of that lack of speed. That’s where the toughness comes in handy. He’s been stopped on his feet twice, but clearly doesn’t go down without a fight.
