It's rare for me to genuinely hate a fight but the upcoming WBC Light Middleweight title fight between champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (40-0-1, 29) and challenger Josesito Lopez (30-4-0-1, 18) is one that I cannot stomach nor understand.
Ginger haired Saul Alvarez is seen by many in the sport as the emerging Mexican star of the future. He's got a massive fan base that seems to grow after every fight and he's got a pretty fun to watch style that combines heavy hands with some wonderful combinations. At just 21 years old it's fair to say that, if matched well, Alvarez really could be a star for the next 10 or so years, however this brings us to the big problem of Alvarez. Just how do you match a 21 year old world champion with the world looking at him? The answer seems to be softly.
Since his break out US performance against Jose Miguel Cotto back in May 2010 on the Floyd Mayweather Jr v Shane Mosley undercard there has been expectation on Alvarez. This expectation grew suddenly after Alvarez stopped the teak tough Argentinian Carlos Manuel Baldomir and then again when Alvarez claimed the WBC Light Middleweight title by out pointing Matthew Hatton in March 2011. Sadly however Alvarez's reign as world champion, in a solid division, has been less than note worthy with victories over a 35 year old Ryan Rhodes, a horribly undersized Alfonso Gomez, an undeserving Kermit Cintron and an ancient Shane Mosley. In a division that has talent like Floyd Mayweather Jr, Miguel Cotto, Austin Trout, James Kirkland, Erislandy Lara, Javier Maciel, Lukas Konecny and Zaurbek Baysangurov we really need to ask why Alvarez has been content on fighting second rate opponents.
That's not to say that his opponent this coming weekend, Josesito Lopez, is second rate, but he certainly isn't a Light Middleweight or an opponent that we should really be that excited about. Lopez is there as the sacrificial lamb as Golden Boy Promotions continue to develop Alvarez on hype rather than achievement, a risky strategy in this sport.
So why is Lopez not a solid opponent for Alvarez? Well to start this we need to look at Lopez. He may be taller than Alvarez but he's a naturally thin guy and not the thick set build of Alvarez. Just a year ago Lopez was fighting as a Light Welterweight in fact it's almost certain he could make Light Welterweight still if he wanted to. The highest Lopez has ever weighed was just 144¾lbs, over 9 lbs less than the Light Middleweight limit. Again, whilst he is a solid fighter he is no Light Middleweight.
Lopez got this fight after upsetting the Golden Boy Promotions apple cart by stunning Victor Ortiz in June, breaking Ortiz's jaw. The original idea was to put Ortiz in with Alvarez, though again it wasn't a match up I liked when we see the talent in the Light Middleweight division.
Sadly the size factor will never be overcome. Lopez may be able to survive 6 or 7 rounds but the sheer size and power difference is going to be far too much and take it's toll on the California native who I expect to be ground down in the middle rounds before being ultimately stopped. The biggest problem with this fight is sadly the Golden Boy hype train who will continue to declare Alvarez as one of the sports biggest stars despite the fact he'll have only beaten a Light Welterweight.
Prediction- Alvarez TKO 6
To sum this up in a word-Mismatch.
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