This past September Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Danny “Swift” Garcia were on the same fight card in Las Vegas, Nevada. While Garcia surprised many by outboxing and out slugging Lucas Matthysse a fight most boxing fans were expecting Matthysse to win it was Garcia who looked impressive as he outclassed the heavy handed Matthysse, while Alvarez was on the end of his own one sided beat down as he was thoroughly beat by Mayweather over 12 rounds. Yet, even if the scorecards show a majority decision, boxing fans and observers alike had a hard time believing that Canelo was in the fight.
While both ending back in September could not have ended any more different for both the young fighters, the exact opposite seemed to occur in the last two weeks starting with Alvarez.
Alvarez returned to Las Vegas in a fight that many felt was a bit dangerous coming back from his first pro loss when he decided to face hard punching Alfredo Angulo, a fighter that at any moment could change an entire fight with his heavy hands. However from the beginning it was apparent that Canelo was a man on a mission to return to being Mexico’s next great fighter and after career performance referee Tony Weeks called a halt to the bout as Angulo’s face showed the punishment of the fight in the 10th round. Canelo dominated a gritty Mexican that seemed overmatched against the younger fight and could not get anything going as Canelo looked sharp in his return. It was a far cry from his fight six months earlier. Canelo reminded many that had written him off as a manufactured champion by his performance and proved that while he may not be as good as Mayweather, he is still a fighter to be reckoned with.
This past weekend in a fight that was being billed as a homecoming of sorts for Philly bred fighter Danny Garcia as he went to Puerto Rico to face off against another gritty Mexican in Mauricio Herrera. It was a fight that many felt Garcia should have won easily as Herrera has always seemed to come up short in big fights recently and facing Garcia would be much of the same. However, while Herrera would ultimately lose, the biggest surprise would be how close Garcia would allow the fight to be as Herrera maintained constant pressure on the champion throughout the fight, landing hard shots that allowed Herrera to keep the fight close and by most observers including the Showtime TV crew had Herrera winning. In the end, Garcia would walk away with his title still in hand but with more questions than answers as he left the ring.
So as many fight fans look ahead as to what both these young fighters do from here is anyone’s guess, the biggest question is was the fighters who fought in the last two weeks the exception to the norm?
A little of both.
While Canelo has certainly been managed and handled with all intentions of becoming the next major boxing superstar, his loss to Mayweather proved what 44 tried before and failed to do. He fought the best in boxing today and lost. Make no mistake, Canelo is a talented young fighter who will only get better with age but he will probably always struggle with fighters who are faster than him.Lucky for him, there are few if any at his weight that are faster than him. Add the fact that he will be properly handled to fight guys with more hype then actual substance and Canelo should be a dominating force against most opponents in the next few years. Canelo will always look good against the likes of the Angulos or Trouts and there is nothing wrong with that at least not at the moment, however in due time, Canelo will have to face his weakness again and when he does, will it end the same way as it did in September?
Danny Garcia had a good claim for fighter of the year in 2013, his body of work in 2013 was solid, with a win over Zab Judah and his surprise win over Matthysse was as good a win as any in 2013. While Garcia looked strong coming into 2013 and he ended the ended on a huge victory, his 2014 will either be the push he needs to get to that next level or it may be a blue print on how to fight Garcia in the future. Garcia is every bit as good as he was when he beat Matthysse in September however he is also a young fighter that with every win seems to gain a legion of hype men and bandwagoners. In his spare time Garcia moonlights as a rapper. Add the fact that as Garcia mentioned, 140lb limit may be coming problem to make the weight a move up in weight may be in the near future. What it also allows is Garcia to subtly add his name to the Mayweather sweepstakes. Garcia is the real deal, his fight against Hererra was a tough fight but he made it out albeit barley he still made it. The bigger issue is while Canelo is handled accordingly, Garcia will be put to the test every time out. Garcia is more expendable and with a far less fanbase and if he moves up in weight the likes of Maidana, Broner, Porter and of course Mayweather is waiting.