Santos Saul Alvarez Barragan (born
July 18, 1990), best known as Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. As of December
2018, Alvarez is ranked as the world’s best active boxer, pound for
pound, by BoxRec, third by The Ring and eighth by the Boxing Writers
Association of America. He is also ranked as the world’s best active
middleweight by BoxRec, and by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
Alvarez
is known as an excellent counterpuncher, being able to exploit openings
in his opponents’ guards while avoiding punches with head and body
movement. He is also known as a formidable body puncher.
Alvarez
vs Cintron
Alvarez defeated Kermit Cintron in the 5th round by TKO.
Alvarez spent the first three rounds feeling out Cintron, a former
Welterweight Champion, before punishing the Puerto Rican with body
shots and straight right hands in the fourth round. He knocked Cintron
down once and had him in trouble at the end of the round, but Cintron
was saved by the bell. In the fifth round, Cintron came out and caught
Alvarez with some combinations, but Alvarez eventually overpowered
him with sever powerful straight right hands, and the referee stepped
in and stopped it. The fight averaged 1.5 million viewers on HBO:
Boxing After Dark.
Alvarez vs Mosley
Richard Schaefer announced
that Alvarez’s next bout on May 5, 2012, on the undercard of Miguel
Cotto’s clash with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena,
and co-featured, on Cinco De Mayo. On February 11, Shane Mosley was
announced as Alvarez’s next opponent in May for his WBC light middleweight
title. Alvarez defeated Mosley after 12 rounds via unanimous decision.
Alvarez vs Lopez
Alvarez was originally set to fight Ring Top
10 super welterweight, and former welterweight Champion, Paul Williams
on September 15, 2012. However, on May 27, 2012, a motorcycle accident
in Georgia paralyed Williams from the waist down, ending his boxing
career. Alvarez’s possible opponents for his September bout were James
Kirkland, Austin Trout, Delvin Rodriguez and most notably, Victor
Ortiz.
Alvarez was scheduled to defend his title against former
welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz in the main event of a Showtime
PPV card dubbed “Knockout Kings” from the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
However, Ortiz was unable to defeat underdog Josesito Lopez in what
was supposed to be a “tune-up” fight on June 23 at the Staples Center
in Los Angeles, losing due to referee stoppage (broken jaw) and canceling
his bout with Alvarez as a result.
Due to the upset, Lopez was
instead penciled in to face Canelo at the MGM Grand on the September
15th date, to challenge for Sual’s WBC light middleweight title. Alvarez
won the fight via fifth-round technical knockout after dominating
Lopez from start to finish to stay undefeated and increase his record
of 41-0. The fight averaged 1.04 million on Showtime. For the fight,
Alvarez earned $2 million and Lopez a smaller amount of $212,500.
Alvarez vs Trout
His next fight took place on April 20, 2013
at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas against Austin Trout. The fight
was supposed to take place during Cinco de Mayo weekend as the co-main
event of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout against Robert Guerrero; however,
due to a contract disagreement between Alvarez and Mayweather regarding
their potential fight on September 14, 2013, Alvarez opted to headline
his own card.