By Edward Chaykovsky
In a little over two weeks time, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) will face the biggest opponent of his career when he takes on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds.
Canelo, who holds the WBO junior middleweight title, is heading up from 154-pounds. Chavez Jr., who fought as high as 172-pounds, is coming down from his last fighting weight of 168-pounds.
The contest takes place on Cinco De Mayo weekend, May 6th, from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. HBO Pay-Per-View will carry the event.
Should Canelo win, the next possible fight is a showdown with WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) in September, during Mexican Independence Day weekend.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Canelo, says Chavez's biggest advantage is his physical "strength." And by facing a bigger opponent who is physically strong, De La Hoya believes Canelo will greatly benefit in preparing to face someone like Golovkin, who knocked out 23 of his last 24 opponents.
"[Chavez's biggest advantage is] the strength. Golovkin is brute strength. So fights like this help Canelo,” De La Hoya told The Los Angeles Times.
According to De La Hoya, the "speed" of Canelo will play a big role in the contest with Chavez Jr. - who was never considered to be a fast fighter. De La Hoya expects his fighter to use those fast hands, combined with power punching combinations, to secure the victory.
“That’s exactly what they’re working on: the speed. But as you can see, there’s power. Chavez is not the fastest fighter out there. He’s durable. He can take a punch. He’s the bigger guy and the weight is a huge benefit. But [Canelo’s] speed with the power, that’s going to be interesting, and wait till he wears little, small gloves. It can only increase,” De La Hoya said.