One is an affable red-headed farm boy from Juanacatl?n, Jalisco, the other is second generation boxing royalty with a dismissive smirk and a healthy ego.
Both hold WBC world title belts that they never really earned and, for better or worse, both are forever tied together in the minds of fight fans.
While Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was being built up to be the new millennium?s Gran Campeon Mexicano with soft touches on high-profile undercards and niche pay-per-views, Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez jumped in and knocked the boy king off his well-paved road to greatness.
Now, Alvarez is the child prodigy working his way into the hearts of the Mexican fight public and Chavez Jr., who was raised under the assumption that he was destined for (and deserving of) greatness and adulation, is #2.
Looking at both fighters, it?s no mystery why Chavez, despite the famous name and loads of hype, has been slow to capture the Aztec Nation?s hearts and boxing souls.
From early on in his pro career, the young Chavez acted supremely entitled to the love of the Mexican public and treated critics with a dismissive wave of the hand. He was the best, beating the best, looking to fight the best, and then, as fabricated world champion, had proven his point. He was the kid who was prominent in the Mexican media, calling out fighters like Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather while plodding through bouts with the likes of Grover Wiley and Tobia Giuseppe Loriga. Throw in a couple of questionable decisions against Carlos Molina and Matt Vanda that had enraged Mexican fans chucking cups of beer and balled-up popcorn bags into the ring and the ?Son of the Legend? was already a fading pretender to the throne before El Canelo cut in line.
Alvarez was everything Mexican fight fans expect from their prospects? humble, quiet, and reverent to the icons of the past. He was also a hard-working student of the game who still lived among the people and was truly, ?One of them.?
