Junior Middleweight

Jose Lopez was outmatched against Saul Alvarez Saturday night in their bout for the WBC light middleweight title, getting TKO'd in the fifth round. But despite not putting up a deep fight, he deserves to avenge his last loss to Jesse Vargas.

Josesito was coming off arguably the best victory of his career, a KO of Victor Ortiz where he broke the man's jaw.

That win alone left him as a dark horse for the fight against Alvarez, but the Mexican superstar and one of boxing's up-and-coming pound-for-pound leaders made sure this one was over early, putting him on the mat three times in the first four rounds before finishing the job in the fifth.

Lopez was fighting out of class, and there has to be a big level of respect for him to jump into the ring against one of the world's best boxers only to be outmatched on a high level.

His career record sits at 30-5 after the loss. One of those five losses was to Jesse Vargas, whom Lopez fought at 140 to a split-decision loss about this time last year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1QrstYai9k

That fight would put him back on track to compete and be a major player in his weight class, erase one of his career blemishes and maybe even set up a third fight between the two men later on in their respective careers.

The victory against Ortiz will outweigh this ugly loss to Alvarez, and for good reason. Instead of leaving those two fights 0-2, he made Ortiz pay with a broken jaw and set himself up in a win-win situation, no matter the outcome of the Alvarez fight.

Of course, no boxer wants to lose, and Lopez is no different. He will come back with a chip on his shoulder after being knocked out for the first time in his career.

Who better to unleash that chip against than Vargas, who will have to likely move up to 147 for a potential fight with Josesito?

Whoever Lopez draws next will be a solid matchup, strictly due to his now-higher pedigree after taking some high-profile fights. He fought for the title for a reason, and that will be on display in his next few comeback matches.

Six months I ago I doubt even Josesito Lopez would have imagined that on the biggest boxing weekend of the year—Mexican Independence Day—he would be headlining a premium cable card against one of the sport's hottest young stars. 

But when Lopez (30-4, 18 KOs) broke Victor Ortiz's jaw last June 23, he earned the opportunity to challenge Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KOs) for his WBC junior middleweight belt, bumping Ortiz from the spot he had already been announced for. 

They will meet tonight, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight will be broadcast live on Showtime. 

Lopez will be a heavy underdog in the betting, but nobody doubts that he will show up tonight looking to make a fight of it. He is a pressure fighter with a solid chin and respectable power. Expect him to stay within range of Alvarez, looking to exchange up close. 

But he will be facing a bigger man. His TKO of Ortiz was his first major fight at welterweight, after spending almost his entire career at 140. 

Now he will step up in weight once again, to challenge Alvarez at 154. 

A major star in Mexico since his teenage years, the 22-year-old Alvarez is viewed by many as a boxing prodigy, a young champion at the start of a legendary career. 

Both men are aggressive, yet intelligent, brawler-boxers. I have to give Alvarez the advantages in strength, explosiveness and overall athleticism, but Lopez has a gritty, intangible aspect that keeps him in fights and in position to win. 

I will be blogging with round-by-round scoring in the main event and highlights from the under card, starting at 9 p.m.

A victory for Saul "Canelo" Alvarez against Josesito Lopez should mean a superfight with pound-for-pound great Floyd Mayweather.

Canelo comes into the fight as a huge favorite and should win as long as he can avoid the power of Lopez that was able to stun Victor Ortiz by breaking his jaw in their June 2012 bout. Another win for Alvarez will just add to what has already been an impressive year for the young 154-pounder.

Alvarez has already defended his WBC Light Middleweight five times since winning the belt in 2011 and has maintained an undefeated record in over 40 fights. At some point, he'll really need to challenge himself and a victory over a dangerous underdog such as Lopez will show that he is ready to fight on the biggest stage in the sport.

Considering Mayweather's undeniable ability to draw a crowd and pay-per-view buys, a fight with Mayweather is the perfect way to market one of boxing's youngest stars.

Canelo is only 22 years old, compared to most of the boxers with enough name recognition to sell pay-per-views, that's extremely young. He may not have the experience of headlining cards, but he's an extremely marketable fighter.

He has a signature look (his red hair is the reason for his nickname which means "Cinnamon"), he's young and he's undefeated. After watching Mayweather beat Miguel Cotto in his last fight, it will be refreshing to see a challenger for Mayweather that hasn't been beaten and has plenty of years left in the sport.

Win or lose, Alvarez could emerge from the Mayweather fight as a bonafide star. Mayweather has proven time and time again that people will tune in to watch his fights regardless of opponent. If Canelo performs well in the spotlight, we could see a huge star in the making.

Outside of Manny Pacquaio, there aren't too many viable opponents left for Mayweather, if Alvarez gets past Lopez, he will be one of the few options worth watching.

When Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Josesito Lopez meet in the ring, it will all come down to who can execute his game plan the best.

Alvarez will put his undefeated record and WBC Light Middleweight title on the line against Lopez as a heavy favorite, but that doesn't mean this fight isn't dangerous. Lopez was not given a chance to beat Victor Ortiz when he stepped up and took a fight with him on short notice, but Lopez pulled off the upset in that fight, breaking Ortiz's jaw in the ninth round.

Will Alvarez continue his dominance as champion? Can Lopez pull off yet another stunning upset? Here's what each fighter will need to do if he wants things to go his way tonight.

Keys for Alvarez

Alvarez is the heavy favorite in this fight (-2500 according to Bovada) so he needs to make sure that he doesn't put himself into dangerous positions with Lopez in order to ensure victory.

Lopez isn't the most technical boxer but what he does have is heart. Alvarez can't discount Lopez and allow him to dictate the fight. Alvarez will need to utilize his jab and consistently leverage his accuracy to outpoint the more free-swinging Lopez.

Alvarez doesn't possess the fastest hands, but the good news is Lopez doesn't either. What Alvarez does have is much better defense than Lopez. If Alvarez is able to box from the outside, use his jab and consistently make Lopez miss he'll have an easy night picking Lopez apart and perhaps finish the fight by the middle rounds.

Keys for Lopez

For Lopez to win this one, he must have a plan and stick to it.

He's a huge underdog (+1000 according to Bovada) and there's a reason for that—Alvarez is the much bigger and more accomplished combatant. However, Lopez wouldn't even be in this situation had he not risen above the odds once already when he beat Ortiz.

Lopez must be honest with himself in that his only chance of winning is to land some power shots as he did against Ortiz, but he must pick his spots.

If Lopez comes out swinging wildly, early and often, he'll not only gas himself out against a larger opponent, but he'll open himself up to get tagged by Alvarez's powerful counters. Lopez must protect his body and wait patiently for the right opening to come.

If Lopez can be patient and time up some big shots, he could wind up pulling off another improbable upset, if not, expect him to get outboxed for the duration of the fight.

Canelo Alvarez, Josesito Lopez and the rest of the fighters on the Golden Boy Promotions Knockout Kings fight card that will be broadcast on Showtime tomorrow night at 9PM ET/6PM PT stepped on the scale today at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. 

WBC super welterweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez weighed in at the division limit of 154 while his opponent Jose “Josesito” Lopez weighed in at 153, the highest of his career. 

In a clash for the WBC featherweight title, current champion Jhonny Gonzales weighed in at 125 while his opponent Daniel Ponce De Leon tipped the scales at 125.5. 

Former WBA junior welterweight titleholder Marcos Maidana weighed in at 147, the same as his opponent Jesus Soto-Karass. They will be fighting for the WBA welterweight intercontinental title. 

In the opening bout of the telecast, Leo Santa Cruz will defend his IBF bantamweight title against former WBA flyweight champion Eric Morel. Santa Cruz weighed in at 117 while the challenger Morel weighed in at the bantamweight limit of 118. 

Golden Boy Promotions has also promised $100,000 to the fighter who scores the most impressive knockout of the night. 

Earlier today, Golden Boy Promotions sent out a press release saying that the card had sold-out. That is pretty extraordinary considering only a couple miles down the road Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be taking on lineal middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. 

This is going to be a big weekend for boxing fans and the sport in general. So all that’s left for you to do is make sure you subscribe to Showtime, order the fights on HBO pay-per-view, set your DVR and figure which matchups you want to watch first.

Source for weights livestream @shosports.com

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will put his WBC light middleweight title on the line on Saturday night against Jonesito Lopez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Alvarez's last fight—a unanimous 12-round defeat of Shane Mosley—kept his career loss column clear as he sports a 40-0-1 record, including 29 knockouts.

Given Alvarez's resume, it's not surprising that he's a heavy favorite heading into Saturday night's throw down.

Lopez is coming off a win against Victor Ortiz, but was defeated by Jessie Vargas roughly a year ago in the fight before Lopez.

Physically, Alvarez has the size and strength advantage over his opponent, which is one of the reasons why ESPN's boxing expert Dan Rafael picked Canelo to win the fight.

Alvarez is no Victor Ortiz. He will adjust better than Ortiz did and ultimately the size, power and determination are going to be too much for Lopez, who is a good junior welterweight, not a top junior middleweight.

I expect a good rumble while it lasts with Alvarez stopping Lopez in the mid-rounds.

One thing that will be important for Alvarez is to keep the fight at his pace. He's a heavy favorite for a reason, and as long as he executes and uses his strengths to his advantages, he should come out of this one fairly easily.

No one is giving Lopez a chance—including myself—and Alvarez has made it known that he's not going to take his opponent lately.

As he told Bob Velin of USA Today, "Josesito earned the right to be here. I'm not underestimating him at all. I want to continue on this path, but I have to get through Josesito first."

As one of boxing's highest-rising superstars, Alvarez will take care of business on Saturday night and keep his undefeated record unscathed.

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Jose “Josesito” Lopez (30-4 18 KOs) will be in for the fight of his life this Saturday when he steps in the ring with WBC super welterweight champion Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (40-0-1 29 KOs). 

Lopez isn’t even supposed to be in this fight, but thanks to an extraordinary series of events, he finds himself in the main event opposite one of the brightest young stars in the sport today. 

Lopez was scheduled to fight junior welterweight power puncher Kendall Holt on June 22, but Holt pulled out of the bout when he learned it would be staged outdoors. That was a blessing in disguise for the fighter who is now being called the “Riverside Rocky.” When Holt dropped out, Lopez was left looking for a dance partner, and when Andre Berto tested positive for PED’s, that opened up the door for a fight with Victor Ortiz. 

The Lopez bout was supposed to be a stay busy fight for Ortiz before he got a chance at Alvarez, but a funny thing happened while Ortiz was staying busy—he got stopped. 

With the win over Ortiz, Lopez, a mid-level junior welterweight, now finds himself moving up in weight yet again to take on the cinnamon-haired Alvarez. On paper, this looks like a gross mismatch in favor of the budding icon Alvarez, but what you can’t read on a stat sheet or see on a record is how much heart a fighter has, and that appears to be something Lopez has an abundance of. 

No matter how prepared Lopez is, Alvarez should win this fight and should win it easy, there’s no doubt about that. The thing that makes this mismatch compelling is that Lopez was supposed to lose his last fight also. 

I guess Lopez didn’t feel like sticking to the script back in June, and I doubt he plans on doing so Saturday. The problem for Lopez is that Alvarez isn’t Victor Ortiz.

Ortiz, for all his physical gifts, seems to be missing something mentally. Thus far in his career, Alvarez hasn’t shown any deficiencies in the mental toughness department. 

Lopez understands what a win over Alvarez would do for his career and how lucky he is to have this opportunity. 

“This is the most important fight of my life,” Lopez said at Thursday’s final press conference according to a press release issued by Golden Boy Promotions. ”I'm thankful for this opportunity.  Fighters with a few losses on their record don't get opportunities like this very often.”

He also seems to understand that this is going to be the biggest challenge he’s ever faced in the ring.

"I know I have a big, big fight, a tough fight, the hardest fight of my life on Saturday night. I understand that I have to fight the best fight of my life to come out with a victory, and for that reason I prepared really well. I prepared to the best of my ability.” 

I think for Lopez to pull off the upset he will definitely need to fight the fight of his life, and that is a tall order considering he will be fighting two divisions higher than he is accustomed to. 

Lopez will come out looking to win this fight, and I don’t doubt that he believes he can. I would look for Lopez to be competitive in the early part of the fight, and if he sticks to the game plan of trainer Henry Ramirez, he should have some success. 

As the rounds wear on, though, I think Alvarez’s size advantage will be too much for Lopez to overcome and he will suffer the first stoppage loss of his career. 

There is still always the chance, however minute it may be, that the “Riverside Rocky” could make lightening strike twice.

It appears as though current WBC super welterweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez isn’t even considering an all-Mexican showdown with fellow Mexican icon Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. anytime in the near future. 

According to a recent story by Miguel Rivera of boxingscene.com, the redheaded wonder boy has his sights set on pound-for-pound king Floyd “Money” Mayweather instead. Alvarez was quoted as saying the following:

For the time being, a fight with Julio is not in our sights. But if it happens one day—we are ready for that. The day that happens is when we are going to start discussing what would happen in such a fight. I'm a lot more interested in facing Mayweather. I would be the happiest man in the world if I received this fight.

 

A fight with Mayweather would be a huge step up in class for the undefeated Mexican Alvarez, more commonly referred to as Canelo. 

Before any fight with Mayweather can possibly be considered, Canelo first must get past the upset-minded Jose “Josesito” Lopez. 

Lopez will be a huge underdog going into the bout with Canelo, but will be looking to make lighting strike twice after his big knockout win over Victor Ortiz which landed him the bout. 

Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya has stated in the past that he doesn’t believe that Canelo is ready for Mayweather at this point in his career.  If the redheaded phenom is successful this weekend, that may help sway the opinion of his promoter about a potential Mayweather matchup. 

A fight with Mayweather would be a huge pay-per-view attraction as the Mexican fighter has a rabid fan base in his boxing crazed native country.

Almost every day, another story comes out about who Manny Pacquiao is going to fight next, while almost nothing is written regarding possible opponents for Floyd Mayweather Jr. 

It seems as though everyone within 20 pounds of the pound-for-pound king of the ring wants a piece of him whether they deserve a shot or not. 

There are some fights that will obviously never happen, like an Andre Ward-Floyd Mayweather Jr. matchup. 

I am sure there will be people calling for this fight, and some diehard Mayweather haters will say he is scared, etc., but fighting a man who is arguably the No. 2 fighter in the world and is naturally much bigger than you is just plain stupid. If we know one thing about Mayweather, it’s that he’s not stupid when it comes to choosing an opponent.  

Some have said Andre Berto should be next for Floyd. 

I personally believe Berto-Mayweather would be a fun match to watch while it lasted, but ultimately, Mayweather would be too much for him and would probably score a late-round knockout. This fight will probably never happen, as Berto has reportedly signed with TMT, Mayweather and partner 50 Cent’s promotional company. 

Robert Guerrero has been making a lot of noise, calling out both Mayweather and Adrien Broner, who campaigns two weight classes below him. 

This sounds to me like Guerrero is just looking for a payday and is trying to stay relevant, if he ever was relevant, in the minds of the boxing public. I think this is a fight that could get made rather easily, as Mayweather has a great working relationship with Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Guerrero. 

The biggest problem with a Guerrero-Mayweather matchup is I don’t think anyone outside of San Jose, Calif., would want to watch it.

Another problem is how one-sided of a fight it would be. Guerrero, while he is a good fighter in the lower weight classes, is not a true welterweight and lacks the firepower to give Mayweather anything to worry about. 

Next up is Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the current WBC junior middleweight champion. 

I think this is a fight that could be a huge success, as long as Alvarez does what he is supposed to do in his next fight against the highly overmatched Josesito Lopez. 

An Alvarez-Mayweather fight would be a great matchup from a sales point of view, but I don’t know how competitive it would be at this point. Although Alvarez is a 40-fight veteran, he still may be a little too green to fight Mayweather yet.

I also doubt that Golden Boy Promotions will be willing to match their biggest cash cow with Mayweather just yet. 

There is always a rematch with Miguel Cotto, but I don’t think it’s necessary considering how one-sided their first fight was. 

Manny Pacquiao is the fight that fans, the media and everyone have been demanding for years, but to be honest, I feel Manny has slipped in his last couple of fights. At this point, I think Pacquiao is easy work for Mayweather and would probably get knocked out. Also, I don't think Bob Arum will allow this fight to happen just yet. 

I think the fighter that Mayweather should go after is Sergio Martinez. 

If Martinez is victorious in his match with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. this weekend, and that’s a big if, I believe a fight with Mayweather is the best fight available for both guys. 

This would undoubtedly be the toughest fight of Mayweather’s career, but a win over the lineal middleweight champion Martinez would be the crowning achievement to Mayweather’s Hall of Fame career. 

Some Mayweather fans will say that going up in weight to fight Martinez isn’t necessary, but let’s face it—Mayweather is the Barry Bonds of boxing.

He is criticized far more then any other fighter due to his out-of-the-ring antics, his choice of opponents over the years and his “safety first” mentality in the ring.  I think that, win or lose, by taking on a fighter like Martinez, he will silence a lot of his critics. 

I don’t really know how a fight would turn out between Mayweather and Martinez, but I do know that I would be on the edge of my seat throughout.  It’s a fight I want to see.

Former junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, fresh off a decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in May, has announced he will return to the ring later this year.

Cotto (37-3, 30 KO) will headline a card on December 1st at Madison Square Garden in New York City, facing undefeated WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout. In a statement, first reported by BoxingScene.com, Cotto officially announced the fight earlier today.

Cotto had been previously mentioned, along with Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez, as a potential opponent for Manny Pacquiao in December. It appears as though Cotto tired of waiting for a decision and instead opted to try and regain a piece of the 154 pound title.

Austin Trout (25-0, 14 KO) has held the WBA title for more than a year and a half. He is considered by most observers to be one of the best young fighters at his weight and in all of boxing. But in facing a seasoned veteran like Miguel Cotto, he will be taking a huge step up in opposition.

For Trout, a win would be the biggest of his career. For Cotto, it would add another world championship to an already decorated career.

The fight will be promoted by Miguel Cotto in conjunction with Golden Boy Promotions. Cotto has not signed with a promotional company since his contract with Top Rank expired last year.