Toe to Toe: Something Special Brewing

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If Tuesday’s Fighter entrances left something to be desired for me, the final press conference restored some hope in me that this event will be a pretty big deal. The Hollywood Theater inside the MGM Grand was packed with hundreds of media members who will be sure to remind the masses that Canelo is a star worth watching and Angulo is a true threat that will give an entertaining fight regardless of the outcome.

One of the highlights of the conference was when Leo Santa Cruz took to the stage. After giving the usual promo spiel, he went into an epic Al Haymon thank you rant. By now we’re used to hearing nearly every fighter utter those famous, “First off, I want to thank god, Al Haymon” post fight words, but this thank you was hilarious and over the top. Santa Cruz, who proclaimed himself not to be very good at public speaking, wanted to make sure everyone knew that Al Haymon was more than just a mysterious shadowy figure controlling boxing these days, he is a generous, caring individual who is trying to give his fighters the biggest opportunity at success. The “greatest manager of all time” award Santa Cruz wanted the BWAA to give Haymon might have to wait a little longer.

The other highlight was the ominous, chilling premonition given by Angulo’s trainer, Virgil Hunter. The soft spoken, and quite frankly, creepy, trainer shared a vision he had of the fight in which it would be, “A brutal affair in which both fighters wont leave the ring the same.” His words and eerie tone wouldve given Liev Schreiber and the entire 24/7 crew a boner. Perhaps it was just posturing for the cameras, but his gut feeling was seemed pretty strong. He seemed genuinely worried and was hoping that he would be able “to rise to the occasion and do the right thing.”   
W

e wont know for sure if his premonition will come true until Saturday. However, i will say this, the last time a had a strong feeling that something extraordinary would happen was in the days before Manny Pacquiao was put to sleep.

Canelo for his part was simply tired of talking. He was quick and simply said he was ready to fight.

Angulo, showing  off his much improved english,  was at ease and not intimidated by the magnitude of the event. He summed himself up quite well, “When you see El Perro on the fight card, your going to get a good show.”

One notable absence was that of Carlos Molina who was arrested and detained in Las Vegas. Richard Schafer did not give any details as to the charges related to the outstanding warrants. We cant say with certainty of what the charges were, but the rumors are flying and opinions as to the severity of the charges vary. Molina’s fight with Charlo is as of yet still scheduled to go on. Molina has until 3 pm pacific time Friday to make the weigh in. Hope these issues can get resolved because this is a great 154 pound fight.