By Ponciano “John” Melo
CALIFORNIA, USA — Mexican boxing champ Canelo Alvarez might be jumping the gun in his quest for fistic superstardom, but we’ll have to see if he’s biting off more than he can chew when he leaps two weight classes in his latest fight next month.
The next question being, why can’t he?
Alvarez is setting up the table for his date with destiny as gung ho boxing fans are raring to find out if a victory against Sergey Kovalev come November 2 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas makes him a four-division world champion.
And all these make this eagerly awaited light heavyweight bout for the WBO crown one of the most anticipated in this year’s boxing calendar and is surely something to look out for.
“The second phase of my career is continuing just as we had planned, and that’s why we are continuing to make great fights to enter into the history books of boxing,” the 29-year-old Alvarez said in a statement announcing the fight.
Alvarez also says that even if he’s trudging a new landscape, he isn’t one to be fazed easily.
“That’s also why I’ve decided to jump two weight classes against one of the most feared champions of recent years. Kovalev is a dangerous puncher, and he’s naturally the bigger man, but that’s the kind of challenges and risks that I like to face.”
Alvarez, sporting his impressive 52-1-2 record with 35 knockouts, is still riding high from his unanimous decision win over Daniel Jacobs back in May.
Kovalev on the other hand, turned the tables on Eleider Alvarez, beating the Colombian after a defeat in their initial fight, reclaiming his WBO championship belt in February this year before defending his title in style via a Round 11 KO od Anthony Yarde.
As per the undercards, Ryan Garcia, a rising star with an unblemished record of 18 wins, no defeats with 15 KOs, will hope to unify the vacant WBC silver lightweight bet and its NABO counterpart when he takes on his co-champ Romero Duno (12-1, 16 KOs)
