Tweet
By Mark Whicker - LAS VEGAS – Nothing sells tickets and pay-per-view TV buys like a baby-faced warrior.
The problem is the damage that all those wars can do to that face.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has a chance to become the main event of the entire boxing business, with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao moving inevitably toward the final bell.
Admirably, he seems to know that the trip to the mountaintop is worth nothing if you don’t pack your credibility with you.
That is why Canelo keeps seeking difficult fights, instead of picking the New Mexico States of the sport. That is why Canelo is playing with fire Saturday night at the MGM Grand, when he encounters Erislandy Lara, the clever southpaw from Cuba.
Canelo’s mentor is Oscar De La Hoya, the sole force in charge of Golden Boy Promotions now that Richard Schaefer is gone. Before Canelo, De La Hoya was probably the last Rudolph Valentino of boxing, a guy who brought men and women to ringside who would never have gone there before.
You did not have to be a boxing fan to be an Oscar fan, or a Oscar critic. As De La Hoya moved up the ranks, he was knocked for taking on Rafael Ruelas, Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker when each former champion had little left but his name. But De La Hoya eventually fought everyone there was to fight within a reasonable weight, and carried boxing in the process. [Click Here To Read More]
The problem is the damage that all those wars can do to that face.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has a chance to become the main event of the entire boxing business, with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao moving inevitably toward the final bell.
Admirably, he seems to know that the trip to the mountaintop is worth nothing if you don’t pack your credibility with you.
That is why Canelo keeps seeking difficult fights, instead of picking the New Mexico States of the sport. That is why Canelo is playing with fire Saturday night at the MGM Grand, when he encounters Erislandy Lara, the clever southpaw from Cuba.
Canelo’s mentor is Oscar De La Hoya, the sole force in charge of Golden Boy Promotions now that Richard Schaefer is gone. Before Canelo, De La Hoya was probably the last Rudolph Valentino of boxing, a guy who brought men and women to ringside who would never have gone there before.
You did not have to be a boxing fan to be an Oscar fan, or a Oscar critic. As De La Hoya moved up the ranks, he was knocked for taking on Rafael Ruelas, Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker when each former champion had little left but his name. But De La Hoya eventually fought everyone there was to fight within a reasonable weight, and carried boxing in the process. [Click Here To Read More]
Comment