By Keith Idec
After a comparatively simple super middleweight debut, Canelo Alvarez fully expects to have to earn every penny of his $30 million-plus purse May 4.
Blowing out overmatched Rocky Fielding was one thing. Alvarez realizes defeating Daniel Jacobs will be much more troublesome when they meet three weeks from Saturday night in a middleweight title unification fight.
Odds-makers have installed Alvarez as about a 4-1 favorite against Jacobs, but Alvarez anticipates having trouble adapting to Jacobs’ style in the first few rounds of their fight.
“It’s gonna be a very difficult fight, especially in the first few rounds,” Alvarez said Tuesday during a conference call. “Until the moment I start adapting and imposing my style, it will be a difficult fight because of his style.”
The Alvarez-Jacobs bout will be streamed by DAZN on May 4 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Mexico’s Alvarez has moved back down from 168 pounds to the middleweight limit of 160 for the Jacobs bout.
They’ll fight for the WBA and WBC middleweight titles Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 KOs) won from rival Gennady Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs) in their rematch September 15 at T-Mobile Arena. The 32-year-old Jacobs (35-2, 29 KOs) and Alvarez also will compete for the IBF belt Jacobs won when he edged Ukraine’s Sergiy Derevyanchenko (12-1, 10 KOs) by split decision October 27 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
“He’s an opponent that is very complete,” Alvarez said of Jacobs. “He knows obviously how to change guards – from southpaw to orthodox. He knows how to move in the ring. He’s very difficult. We know the risk of this fight and it is a high-risk fight. But a fighter of my experience, my level, has to adapt and know how to adapt to all the levels. And that’s what we’re preparing for. We’re working very hard to prepare and come out with the victory.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.