by Geoffrey Ciani – Undefeated WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KOs) has a September 15 date reserved at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The question still remains, who will he face? Canelo was originally scheduled to face Paul Williams, but an extremely unfortunate motorcycle accident suffered by Williams made that an impossibility. Most recently the 21 year old Mexican was expected to take on former welterweight champion Victor Ortiz, who only needed to get by Josesito Lopez. That plan was foiled when Lopez successfully played the role of spoiler with a very spirited effort. Tonight on Showtime, two fighters emerged to help narrow the field down—Erislandy Lara and IBF champion Cornelius “K-9” Bundrage, with their respective victories against Freddy Hernandez and Cory Spinks. Along with WBA champ Austin Trout and contender James Kirkland, this essentially narrows the field down to four. Who is the best choice for Alvarez?
Lara would probably present the most difficult style matchup for Alvarez, and this was evidenced by his performance last night against Hernandez. Lara used his unique blend of talent and technique to win a unanimous decision, but it was not always easy. Despite being stopped in a single round against Andre Berto, Hernandez is a tough and durable guy who knows how to fight. He sometimes made things a bit ugly, but Lara’s more dynamic style and superior craftsmanship won the day. Lara utilized outstanding footwork to control and dictate the range. He used quick accurate punches, often throwing just one or two at a time, and his precision timing was impeccable. He throws thunderous short straight lefts, and his lead right hook is a work of art. Lara is also a capable body puncher and is quite difficult to hit clean.
While Lara is all about finesse and style, K-9 Bundrage is more of a rough’em up physical type of boxer. This was on display in his rematch last night against Cory Spinks, which wound up looking an awful lot like their first encounter. Spinks opened up the contest trying to box behind the jab, and at the conclusion of the first round a wide looping overhand right from K-9 landed flush on the button sending Spinks to the canvas. It was a scrappy encounter with a lot of holding and half-clinches where Bundrage would batter and beat on Spinks at every opportunity he got. Spinks managed to have some success boxing at varying points of the contest, and things were relatively close going into the seventh. K-9 then dropped Spinks three times in round seven and the fight was called off. The brute strength approach from Bundrage could pose an interesting challenge for Alvarez.
Then we have James Kirkland, a volume puncher with a questionable chin and amazing conditioning. Kirkland is usually a crowd pleaser. He throws punches in bunches and has decent power. As his fight with Alfredo Angulo illustrated, while his whiskers may be shaky he has tremendous recuperative powers and a proven ability to overcome adversity. In his most recent bout with Carlos Molina, however, he also showed us that he can be outboxed and outwitted. This combination of attributes makes Kirkland a potentially exciting foe for Canelo, and also perhaps the most marketable.
Like Bundrage, Austin Trout brings a title to the table for the potential of unification. He additionally brings the added selling point of an undefeated record like Lara. Trout is an efficient boxer who knows how to get the job done. He won a comfortable points victory against Delvin Rodriguez last time out, but it was not the most impressive effort and he failed to make the type of impact statement that would propel him to the spotlight as an obvious choice. Trout works behind a good jab, is an effective body puncher, and has a nice left hand. He represents another entirely different variety of options for Canelo.
So who should Canelo fight next?
Personally I would like to see the matchup with Lara. This will be the best clash of styles and talent, and it will also give us a much better idea of where both of these guys truly stand. Kirkland would make an exciting fight for as long as it lasted, but I do not feel it would last too long. I believe Canelo stops him early. Trout just has not done anything to make him an especially appealing choice. His dull outing last time would put him at the bottom of the list as far as my tastes are concerned. K-9 could certainly make it interesting and fun to watch, but it could likely transform into a physically intense fight that is not necessarily the type of matchup television audiences find most appealing. That leaves Lara as the obvious choice. Unfortunately I do not think Lara will be the one getting the call.
Ultimately I believe Saul Alvarez will inevitably cross paths with Miguel Cotto, and until that fight happens I do not think a risky proposition like Lara makes business sense for Team Alvarez just now. Perhaps these two will meet some time down the road, but I reckon one of the other three will wind up winning the Alvarez sweepstakes. Which one? We shall have to wait and see.
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To contact Geoffrey Ciani
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