(Los Angeles) The Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is the favorite in a fight between undisputed champions against the lighter American Jermell Charlo, contested on Saturday (8 p.m. local, 11 p.m. in Montreal) in Las Vegas.
Star of the noble art, “Canelo” has the opportunity at 33 to show that he is not in decline, in a shock to his hand, but perhaps not as unbalanced as expected.
Alvarez (59 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses) is putting his four IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight championship belts (less than 76.203 kg) on the line against Charlo, his super middleweight counterpart. average (less than 69.853 kg), i.e. two categories of difference.
“Charlo is taller (1.80 m versus 1.75 m), but Canelo has the power going for him, in addition to the timing. Two weight divisions apart is a little too much for this fight,” judges the American Dewey Cooper, coach of the Cameroonian fighter Francis Ngannou.
“It’s a fight to get people talking, to sell tickets, to make money, but for me there will be no suspense, “Canelo” will win, in the worst case on points,” adds Christian. Mbilli, interviewed by RMC.
Self-proclaimed candidate for a world chance at super-middleweight, the 28-year-old Frenchman is champing at the bit as he continues to progress in the world hierarchy (25 professional fights and as many victories), and dreams of facing the reference “Canelo “.
“Too much power”
The 33-year-old Mexican veteran hopes to regain his former glory in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, after a defeat against Russian light heavyweight Dmitry Bivol in May 2022 then lackluster victories against the aging Kazakh Gennady Golovkin in September 2022, and the British John Ryder in May this year.
“People will always find ways to criticize, I just have to prove that I am still at the top,” he said at a press conference.
Jermell Charlo, who has not fought since a knockout victory against Argentinian Brian Castano in May 2022, commented virulently on his fight against Ryder.
“He (Charlo) never believed in my skills. I have the opportunity to prove him wrong, and that motivates me,” assures the Mexican.
His American opponent, also 33 years old, described himself as a “warrior”. “Canelo has faced great fighters before, but none of my caliber. I have qualities he hasn’t seen before.”
“I like Charlo’s attitude in the ring,” commented renowned trainer Freddie Roach, a neutral observer for this fight.
“He has tough skin, is not afraid to take hits. I think Charlo will show too much power for “Canelo”.
“Canelo absolutely needs to stay away from Charlo’s left hook. But I don’t think he’s capable of it,” predicted the former mentor of Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao and even Oscar De La Hoya.