By Miguel Rivera
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) is receiving praise from fans, and now from Mexican legends, for finalizing a fight with WBC, WBA, IBO, IBF middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs).
Following his dominating win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Canelo announced that a deal was finalized for September 16th.
Mexican legends Carlos Zarate, Humberto 'Chiquita' Gonzalez and Guadalupe Pintor spoke with ESPN Deportes and assured that this will be the true fight for Canelo in the superstar's hunt of positioning himself as one of the best boxers in the world.
Golovkin has already opened up as a slight favorite to win the fight, although the contest appears to be a lot closer than it was a year ago.
"I think it's going to be a great fight with GGG. Canelo is at [the peak of his career], it's going to be a great fight," predicted Pintor, who at some point was one of Saul's strongest critics. "Regarding the fight with Chavez Jr. we can not even discuss that, it was the biggest fraud I've ever seen."
Gonzalez and Zarate see this contest as the defining fight of Canelo's career.
"Canelo has already agreed to go with Golovkin, and it will be a fight at a weight where it should be, as it should be. At this weight [Canelo] will be very strong, but he must do a preparation in the manner that he's always done. He is a dedicated fighter. He will have some problems with someone who is stronger but he can beat [Golovkin], youth can prevail," said Gonzalez.
"Now we will see if he can get more titles. We are hoping for the biggest spectacle of the year and hope that what happened with Julio Cesar Chávez Jr. does not happen here. This fight can make his career, and it's good that he already secured it. The only thing that I saw in Canelo's last fight, is that he could throw punches at Chavez Jr. to knock him out, but he couldn't do it," Zarate said.
