Montreal’s Alvarez aims to hone his skills
Fighter faces Dabrowski challenge for showdown with Bute next year
The media-relations person made it clear Eleider Alvarez wouldn’t be taking any questions about Lucian Bute. But it didn’t matter, the promising light-heavyweight left without saying a word.
Alvarez undoubtedly plans to do his talking in the ring Saturday afternoon, when he meets Poland’s Norbert Dabrowski in a 10-round main event at the Montreal Casino.
Once that’s over, and assuming he’s victorious and sustains no serious injury, he’ll conduct a news conference to address the Feb. 24 showdown in Quebec City against Bute, the former super-middleweight world champion.
Alvarez, a Colombian who has made Montreal home since turning pro in August 2009, is undefeated in 20 bouts, including 10 knockouts. Alvarez is the toprated contender at 175 pounds by the World Boxing Council, making him the mandatory challenger for champion Adonis Stevenson.
Dabrowski, a 28-year-old southpaw, is 19-5-1 with a modest seven knockouts. But Dabrowski has never been stopped and, in 2015, lost a 12-round decision to Dominic Boesel, ranked second by the World Boxing Organization. On the other hand, Dabrowski has only two wins and a draw in his last six bouts.
“It’s a good fight in my opinion for Alvarez,” promoter Yvon Michel said following Friday’s weigh-in. “We don’t pretend Dabrowski’s a world champion. But he has a decent record. He beat some good guys and we believe he’ll give enough opposition to Eleider to sharpen his skills and be at the top of his game when the big fight (against Bute) arrives.”
Translation: Michel hopes Dabrowski gives Alvarez some rounds.
And that’s a distinct possibility, considering Alvarez’s last three fights have gone the distance.
This tune-up should serve Alvarez well, given the fact Dabrowski and Bute are southpaws.
“I asked my team to keep me active and to also evaluate what I do well and what I do badly against southpaws,” Alvarez told boxingnews24.com in November.
“I want to be fully ready for Adonis Stevenson and become the first Colombian light-heavyweight champion of the world.”
The winner between Alvarez and Bute is expected to meet Stevenson next April.
Alvarez participated in the Beijing Olympics and is best known for capturing gold in his division at the 2007 Pan American Games.
But he has been overshadowed by the likes of Stevenson, Bute and even Jean Pascal since turning pro.
Nonetheless, he has gone about his business in a workmanlike manner, according to Marc Ramsay, who has handled Alvarez since his arrival in this country.
“First of all, he’s a complete fighter,” said Ramsay, a matchmaker and trainer for Michel’s stable of boxers. “He’s a very good technician with good speed and the desire to reach his ultimate goal of a world championship. He’s disciplined and is an above-average puncher. This is what you need to fight at a high level. Anyone in the division will respect his power.”
Ramsay hasn’t been reluctant to challenge Alvarez with stern tests. In September 2013, Alvarez scored a unanimous decision over Edison Miranda, 35-8 at the time. Miranda was a two-time world-title
challenger at middleweight and super-middleweight, once considered one of the most dangerous contenders at 160 pounds because of his knockout percentage.
Almost 13 months ago, Alvarez scored a 12-round majority decision against Isaac Chilemba, considered a top contender in the division, in a WBC light-heavyweight elimination bout.
Ramsay said Alvarez puts everything on the table, whether it’s in training or matches, but would like to see him curb his emotions at times. Against Dabrowski, the trainer simply hopes Alvarez carries out the game plan, completing the things they worked on in the gym, technically and tactically.
“I don’t want to see him (try to) impress for nothing. I want him to box and execute what we prepared for,” Ramsay said. “If he does that, everything will be nice.”
Ramsay believes Dabrowski, given his amateur pedigree, has good fundamentals and basic boxing skills while being sound technically.
Alvarez didn’t attend Tuesday’s
news conference announcing the Bute fight and will face his opponent for the first time Saturday afternoon, when the card’s concluded. Bute will be at ringside for the program to formulate his scouting report.
“If it was any other fighter, I probably would have asked (the promoter) to wait to make the announcement. But Alvarez is very focused,” Ramsay said.
“He didn’t come to the press conference so he could focus on Dabrowski. He’s a real professional. He understands nothing’s going to happen if he doesn’t perform Saturday. That’s his focus.
“And he hasn’t spoken about Bute once, even when we were driving from the gym to the Casino. He never talks about it.”
Alvarez and Dabrowski came in under the catch-weight of 180 pounds on Friday. Alvarez was 179.6, while Dabrowski was 179.
The undercard’s comprised of seven bouts.
The opening bell is at noon.