By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Is he as confident as he was when he felt Juan Manuel Marquez would knock out Manny Pacquiao in their fourth fight?
That was the question posed to Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain during a question-and-answer session Thursday at MGM Grand. Beristain, Marquez’s longtime trainer and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s new trainer, would’ve loved to have answered as affirmatively as possible.
Truth be told, Beristain can’t feel as good about Chavez’s chances of knocking out Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night as he did before the fourth bout between Marquez and Pacquiao.
Marquez, in addition to being a better fighter than Chavez, knew Pacquiao very well following three 12-round fights against the Filipino legend. The Mexican icon had hurt Pacquiao in previous fights, which provided proof to Beristain that Marquez could connect with the right hand that knocked Pacquiao unconscious in the sixth round of their December 2012 fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
With Chavez, Beristain doesn’t know how the son of Mexico’s most acclaimed champion will execute what Beristain has taught him during their first training camp together.
“This is very different,” Beristain said. “This is a very distinct situation. This is the first time I’m working with Chavez and we’re fighting the best fighter in all of Mexico, and probably in the world – one of the best fighters in the world. And Canelo’s had these two guys [head trainer Eddy Reynoso and assistant trainer Jose “Chepo” Reynoso] with him for a very, very long time. So it’s a very distinct situation. But yes, I have confidence. We’re working hard to win, but the chips are stacked against us.”
Alvarez remained about a 6-1 favorite over Chavez on Thursday at MGM Grand’s sports book.
The 26-year-old Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) has moved up nearly 10½ pounds from his last fight to face the 31-year-old Chavez (50-2-1, 32 KOs, 1 NC) at a catch weight of 164½ pounds. Their 12-round fight will headline HBO Pay-Per-View’s four-fight telecast from T-Mobile Arena (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT; $69.99 in HD).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
