By: Sean Crose
He’s only 34, which really isn’t THAT old by contemporary boxing standards. Yet, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the man who perhaps still remains king of the sport of boxing, has been fighting professionally since the age of 15. That’s 65 fights in a career that’s pushing two decades in length. That, simply put, is a whole lot of boxing. Perhaps that’s why people are now viewing the red haired star as being a bit over the hill. Boxing, after all, has a way of taking its toll. Legends, however, even aging legends, die hard.
That’s why some might argue it’s unwise to simply write the 61-2-2 multi-divisional titlist off. Yes, Canelo doesn’t seem to have the pop he once did in recent years, and yes there are those arguing the man is avoiding powerhouse David Benavidez, but Canelo has more experience against top level competition than most other fighters in history. Floyd Mayweather, Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Dmitry Bivol. Those names represent just some of the notable competition Canelo has faced over the years. The fact that he has bested the vast majority of that competition is already a given.
It’s perhaps no surprise then that the man is heavily favored to defeat Edgar Berlanga when the two meet Saturday night in Los Vegas for Canelo’s numerous super middleweight world titles. While New York’s Berlanga is younger and perhaps bigger than Canelo, he’s never met anyone close to Canelo’s caliber before – not even an aging Canelo. Still, the Canelo-Berlanga bout is going to air on pay per view. Canelo, like Mayweather before him, only fights for a pay per view fee. It’s one of the perks of ring greatness.
The chances of Canelo-Berlanga being a huge paper per view success, however, is unlikely. He may have helped bring in two million buys when he fought Mayweather over a decade ago, but Berlanga isn’t a top name. And this is an era where only the biggest names bring in the biggest numbers. Not that Canelo cares. Again, he’s been at this game for a long time, and has been able to essentially call the shots for years now.
Canelo also has a stubborn streak – or is it a good marketing sense? He has no intention of being one of the countless fighters who ended up going broke because he was unwilling or unable to dictate the course of his career. For that, frankly, the guy deserves credit.