Six months after losing to Floyd Mayweather in the highest grossing fight ever, Mexican star Canelo Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO) returns to the ring on March 8 to face the battle-tested, hard-punching Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18 KO).
Critics of the Canelo vs Angulo match-up insist the bout is a mis-match, presuming Angulo will be nothing more than a sitting duck for his young opponent. (Image courtesy of Showtime)
Hard-charging and sometimes reckless, Angulo is known to offer holes defensively.
Had Angulo’s bout with Erislandy Lara not taken place last summer, one could reasonably argue the brutish Angulo lacked the skill to have any chance of defeating an opponent as polished and poised as Canelo Alvarez.
But despite being stopped by Erislandy Lara, it was Angulo’s performance against the ultra-skilled Cuban that has made the Mexican underdog believers of many.
In June, Angulo floored the savvy, extremely defensive-minded Lara twice… and hard. Moreover, that fight was still up-for-grabs when it was halted in Round 10. Two judges had Lara winning 85-84 while the third had Angulo ahead 86-83.
As Austin Trout learned in his bout with Lara last fall, finding ways to land flush shots on the crafy Cuban is quite the pickle to say the least. And although Trout and Angulo lost their respective bouts with Lara, the Mexican succeeded, offensively, where the presumably more nimble American failed.
Is Alfredo Angulo a vastly improved fighter since his 2011 war with James Kirkland?
Is Angulo’s boxing intelligence and overall ring presence enhanced?
Angulo is known for his power, but does he now have the craft to find a home for more of his clubbing shots?
Given Angulo found success, offensively, against one of the best defensive tactitians in the sport, how effective will he be against Canelo? And will Alvarez, unlike Lara last year, find ways to blunt Angulo’s very dangerous offensive arsenal?
Canelo vs Angulo, which will take place in Las Vegas, will be the main event of a Showtime pay-per-view (PPV) broadcast.
