Canelo’s a cut above the rest

THE Mexican kid who took up boxing to avoid being bullied for having freckles and red hair has come a long way.

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez now stands head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in the punch-for-pay business.

Before a mammoth crowd of 73,126 fans at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, an all-time record for an indoor boxing event held in the United States, Alvarez recently stopped Briton Billy Joe Saunders to unify the WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight (168 lbs.) championships.

The previously unbeaten (30-0) Saunders, who came in as the defending WBO champ, offered tricky boxing skills that were expected to trouble Alvarez.

Saunders looked tentative in the early rounds, but by mid-fight he made tactical adjustments that had the pro-Alvarez crowd worried.

The fight started to heat up as Saunders started putting his punches together, but Alvarez was quick to regain control of the fight.

In round eight, Saunders made the mistake of staying in the pocket too long and Alvarez nailed him with a bone-jarring right uppercut that instantly swelled and damaged the right eye of the Briton.

Saunders found himself feverishly covering up as Alvarez moved in for the kill. Alvarez, sensing the end was near, even motioned the crowd to rally behind him.

Returning to his corner, Saunders informed his handlers he could no longer see out of his right eye.

When trainer Mark Tibbs felt Saunders was not responsive to his queries, he called on the referee to stop the fight. Officially, it went down as an eighth-round technical knockout victory for Alvarez.

As it turned out, Saunders suffered a quadripod fracture to his orbital bone. It’s a total blowout of the orbital, a serious eye injury that forced Saunders to immediately undergo surgery. He is expected to be out for a considerable period.

Alvarez improved his record to 56-1, 2 draws with 38 knockouts.

Since absorbing his only loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2013, Alvarez has been unbeaten in 15 fights (with only Gennady Golovkin holding him to a draw in September 2017). Alvarez now holds the WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight titles. Predictably, Alvarez called for a showdown with IBF champion Caleb Plant (21-0, 12 knockouts) as a win over the American will make him the undisputed champion at 168 pounds.

Plant is affiliated with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions and the latter is known for being difficult to deal with on the negotiating table.

Then again, Alvarez is a free agent, having been released from his contract with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions last year. Given his status, Alvarez can easily make an arrangement with Haymon for a unification showdown with Plant.

If the Plant fight fails to push through, Alvarez still has several options on the table. Fans are hankering for a third showdown with Golovkin.

Alvarez and Golovkin battled to an exciting draw in their first meeting in September 2017, a fight many thought Golovkin won. In a rematch in September 2018, Alvarez carved out a close majority decision victory.

Not a few believe the hard-punching Golovkin (41-1, 1 draw, 36 knockouts) is still the guy who can beat Alvarez. But truth be told, Golovkin has not been the same fighter since suffering his first loss to Alvarez.

Golovkin, who is already 39, looked old and shopworn in defeating Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October 2019 for the IBF middleweight (160 lbs.) title. Should Golovkin meet Alvarez for the third time, he will also have to move up to super middleweight.

Alvarez is clearly the best fighter in the world today. He has conquered four weight classes (junior middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight) and seems to have found his comfort zone at super middleweight.

Alvarez is unlike the typical Mexican boxer. Heck, he has given Latino boxing a virtual facelift.

Mexican fighters are popularly known as face-first brawlers.

Alvarez is a master tactician both on offense and defense. He breaks down foes with excellent counterpunches coupled with debilitating body shots. On defense, he offers excellent head and shoulder movements that allow him to dodge blows with aplomb.

Alvarez’s resume is filled with victories over marquee names and he apparently has no plans to stop anytime soon. He plans to fight for seven more years and looks to galvanize his legacy by the time he is finished with the sport.