by David P. Greisman
It wasn’t the largest crowd that had come to see Canelo Alvarez in Texas, but it was still quite sizable, an announced 31,588 people in attendance at Minute Maid Park, the baseball stadium that is home field to the Houston Astros.
This was the second time that Alvarez fought in the Lone Star State. Nearly 40,000 had watched him top Austin Trout at the Alamodome in San Antonio back in April 2013. And given the popularity Canelo has among Mexican and Mexican-American boxing fans, Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions says that Alvarez should become a regular there in the future.
“Canelo has mentioned to me that he wants to fight in Texas or outside of Las Vegas where we can take the event to the fans who cannot fly over to Vegas or pay the high-priced ticket,” De La Hoya said after Alvarez knocked out James Kirkland this past Saturday. “He loves fighting in San Antonio. He loves fighting here now in Houston. We’re going to see Canelo fight here in Texas once a year, and that’s what he’s stated to me.
“It’s all about taking the event to the fans, the loyal fans who follow boxing with just a great passion,” De La Hoya said. “It’s important that Canelo keeps coming back.”
It will also be interesting to see if Alvarez ever ends up fighting at AT&T Stadium, the huge football arena for the Dallas Cowboys that can fit upwards of 100,000 people in there and has played host to Manny Pacquiao’s wins over Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in 2010.
Alvarez has otherwise been fighting largely in Las Vegas as he went from prospect to contender and then a titleholder, with a couple of appearances in California and Mexico as well.
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