With just days to go until his first competitive appearance of the year, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez(44-1-1, 31KO’s) spoke with FightHub TV through a translator about his opponent on the weekend, the southpaw smasher James Kirkland(32-1, 28KO’s). They are scheduled for twelve rounds at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, and no title is on the line.
Two of Canelo’s last three opponents have offered him a very different challenge to the one Kirkland poses. Floyd Mayweather Jr and Erislandy Lara are slick stylists whose opponents often struggle to tag cleanly at all throughout their bouts, but Canelo will not have to go looking for Kirkland. The self-styled ‘Mandingo Warrior’ has a brutally intimate style, and his goal is to get as close as possible so he can start churning out combinations of hard hooks. He will do so for the duration of each round if you don’t interrupt him.
Canelo was asked whether Kirkland is the most dangerous southpaw -a misnomer in truth given he squares up most of the time- he has faced thus far and had this to say:
“He is very dangerous, I can’t say for sure whether he’s the most dangerous because I’ve faced some very good fighters. He’s an aggressive fighter; he’s very strong and I’m gonna have to be ready for the fight.”
Canelo has never fought anyone like Kirkland. If you scroll through his resume over the last few years there are plenty of tricky boxers he has dispatched, but no one with the power, and more importantly the work rate, that Kirkland has built his reputation on.
Canelo says he will not wilt in the face of such a challenge and plans to meet Kirkland head on, with intelligence, as well as brute force.
“I’m gonna attack him, I’m gonna be aggressive, but I gotta be smart, that’s the key.”
This is a fight very much in the Banana Skin category for Canelo. Kirkland has been out of action for a year-and-a-half, and not for the first time, but never ceases to impress whenever he returns. He always brings the fire, ask his last victim Glen Tapia. Granted, Tapia is nowhere near Canelo’s calibre but he serves as a reminder that you underestimate Kirkland at your peril. Canelo is the Starchild of HBO and Golden Boy promotions. A loss here would severely dent his reputation as the marquee name for both of those companies.
