It’s On: Trout, Canelo Make Weight

This Saturday night in front of whats is expected to be 40,000 or so fans gathering at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, Texas to witness Mexico’s next great star Canelo Alvarez do what many hope; beat Austin Trout.

That task is easier said then done as Trout has been one of the more avoided fighters in the light middleweight division, albeit it may also be due to the lack of popularity of the New Mexico fighter but for Alvarez, it is an important next step in the evolution of the redhead from Mexico.

While some have suggested that this fight is similar to that of Fernando Vargas vs Winky Wright, it is hard to disagree with the similarities of the age, fighting stance and points of their respective careers. However, Trout has not lost and he is also coming off the biggest win of his career, a win over Miguel Cotto this past December in NYC, a place Cotto never lost until Trout. Wright was just coming off a loss and held no major belt. Trout is far more proven at this point then Wright was against Vargas.

No matter the similarities of a fight that occurred in 1999, Canelo may be biting off more than he can chew this early into his career. A career move that for a promotional Company such as Goldenboy, they hope comes out in their favor, an Alvarez loss and no possible bout with cash cow “Money” Mayweather in the fall. Furthermore, Alvarez stock will take a huge hit in the states, the naysayers will come out of the woodworks proclaiming how they all knew that Alvarez never fought anyone and he was overrated to the backlash the Alvarez fans will have against Goldenboy for allowing their star fighter such a risky move so early in his career.

Perhaps that is why the fight was moved to Texas? Many conspiracy fight advocates are positive that Texas has a shady commission and many may be correct. In the past few years there has been a uncomfortable pattern of fights that seemed to be highly questionable. Paulie Malignaggi loss to Juan Diaz and James Kirkland vs Carlos Molina come to mind when talking about Texas officials. This fight is no different as the conspiracy hype machine is already making waves as Laurence Cole, son of Texas Head Dick Cole will be the third man in the ring come Saturday night. On boxing message boards, fans claim the Cole is a Goldenboy “guy”, basically a ref they have at their own disposal. It seems a bit out of reach but anything is possible so, it would be hard to rule out the possibility Canelo may be favored a bit in Texas.

No matter the theories or thoughts fight fans have for the fight that is less the 48 hours away it is nice to see the fight is generating so much buzz in the boxing world as well as in a place like San Antonio.

Trout is the real deal as is Canelo. Saturday should bring fireworks and when the night is over, boxing fans will once again be the winners. These two will be there to test one another, so while the NBA playoffs will just be starting Saturday, those games can be recorded, Showtime is where boxing fans need to be as you can’t get much better than two young fighters coming into their prime facing off in the ring. MyBoxingFans will be there live to cover the action firsthand and all I can say is bring on Saturday night.