In less than two months some of boxing biggest rising stars will descend on Las Vegas for an evening of exciting fights, Sergio Martinez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Canelo Alvarez and Josesito Lopez (not to mention the undercards). The list would seem to be a great fight card… if all were actually on the same fight card.
While Top Rank and Golden Boy seem to be in a never ending pissing contest the fans typically are the ones who lose out. In the past, the two juggernaut promotional companies would go head to head with fight cards from different locations on separate TV stations.
However this September the two companies are taking their fight cards to the same city on the same night a couple miles apart from one another. Top Rank will have Julio Cesar Chavez Jr the son of the Mexican great who also goes by the same name against Sergio Martinez at the Thomas & Mack center on the UNLV campus. Down the way at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Golden Boy will showcase the Mexican sensation Saul “Canelo” Alvarez against the newly crowed champion Josesito Lopez.
In the Blue corner:
Lopez who became an overnight sensation with his brawl last month against hard hitting Victor Ortiz beat the highly favored Ortiz who was supposed to get the fight against Alvarez-had he won as many expected him to. While Ortiz may have not won he and lopez gave fans a great fight that helped Lopez captured the hearts of boxing fans all over the world. The self described “skinny Mexican kid from Riverside” proved once again why boxing fans are in love with the sport.
While the controversial loss Manny Pacquiao suffered a couple weeks previously was still fresh in the minds of fans and reminded boxing fans how ugly and frustrating boxing can be. The boxing display that Lopez and Ortiz showed through 9 rounds was more than enough to help remind boxing fans of how beautiful and thrilling a fight can be as well.
While Josesito Lopez may not be as big a name as Victor Ortiz is, come September 15th boxing fans may once again be reminded no matter how big a challenge may be, all bets are off when its just the two men remaining in the ring. Alvarez may have the size but Lopez has already shown he has the heart.
In the Red corner:
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. the son of the former great who bears the same name will enter the ring for the first time as a legitimate underdog when goes up against the slick Sergio Martinez. Many had wanted this fight a year ago when Chavez Jr. was still facing opponents of C level competition and blowing them out with relative ease and getting far more recognition for his wins against guys named Lyell, Zbik and Manfredo Jr. Than Martinez who was facing Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik.
However in the last year as Martinez has seemed to struggle a little against guys many expected him to blow out, Chavez Jr. has slowly filled into his body and finally seems to be comfortable at 160lbs. While the fight was a sure win for Martinez a year ago now seems not as clear. Chavez Jr. has shown that he actually has some skill-Enough skill that many fans are now calling the fight a toss up and that Chavez Jr. has a good shot of beating the older Martinez.
While the outcome is uncertain until both men step into the ring, it doesn’t mean that boxing fans can’t weigh in on their predictions and thoughts of how the story will unfold on September 15th.
No matter the outcome the winners are the fans.
While it seems that having the two biggest promoters hosting fairly large fights in the same town miles from one another seems counterproductive, it actually is a great weekend of fighting for boxing fans in general. While a majority of big fight cards that are in Vegas usually come with expensive tickets to see the fights live, both the cards are a reasonable price.
Tickets for both fight cards start at $25.00 dollars, having two popular Mexicans fighting on Mexican Independence weekend on separate fight cards allows many more fans to go to Vegas and catch either fight for a good price.
Furthermore, both promoters seem to be pushing for better than average undercards. Goldenboy has already announced Marcos Maidana will fight Jesus Soto Karass along with Daniel Ponce De Leon facing Jhonny Gonzalez. GBP is also offering a extra 100k for best knockout of the night. Top Rank has yet to officially announce their entire undercard but one name that is being mentioned is Mike Alvarado. The undefeated 140lb from Colorado has emerged in the last year with some impressive wins that has him on the verge of fighting for a title. The problem with Alvarado is that he is not known outside of the boxing circles. Which, in this day means unless he gets the “last minute” call as a replacement, his shot for a title against any of the big name in his division may never happen.
Alvarado is as deserving as Danny Garcia or Josesito Lopez earning their shot against Khan and Ortiz. Depending on how Rios is adjusting to the 140lb weight, Alvarado-Rios would make for one exciting fight- Morales-Barrera 1 type of fight. In the end no matter who Top Rank decides to put on the undercard, right now they have the ability to make the card form top to bottom memorable.
While initially Alvarez-Lopez fight seemed to be a bad move against Martinez-Chavez Jr. , it looks as though it will be a better fight than many expect. Alvarez who many praise to have heavy hands will need all the power he can muster because as Lopez has shown, he has a pretty good chin. Add the possibility that Lopez can actually win with the solid undercard and the Golden oh card may be the better of the two.
In the end, the effort both promotional companies are making to assure fans attend their fight live on Sept. 15th in the reason why boxing fans win. No matter which fight card fans attend, they are sure to have some great fights and that is all that matters to the fans.
And then…
If Broner is moving up in weight after this fight should he win. Richard Abril should the first guy he goes after. Abril gave a decent performance against Brandon Rios that many felt Abril was robbed of the win. If Broner could win in dominate fashion against Abril then Broner should look for a fight against Robert Guerrero.(if Guerrero is willing to move back down)
I may be in the minority but I do not see the power many people say Canelo has. While he has stopped 3 of his last 4 opponents, it was against fighters he was supposed to stop. If he does stop Lopez, it doesn’t matter to many because Lopez has never fought at 154lb.