Canelo-Kirkland fight preview

Photo Credit: HoganPhotos/Golden Boy Promotions

On May 9^th fans are expected to pack Houston’s Minute Maid Park for the return of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Two years ago Alvarez packed the Alamodome with nearly 40,000 fans. This fight is expected to produce those type numbers as Alvarez is a proven commodity to the Texas fans with his fan friendly fighting style.

Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) will face a fellow Texan when he faces the rugged and heavy handed James Kirkland (32-1) fighting out of Austin, TX. Kirkland also has a fan friendly style and boasts (28) knockouts and promises to bring action as Kirkland style is very aggressive.

This will be the first fight back on HBO for Alvarez since leaving rival Showtime. Alvarez made the move to HBO to become a headliner and take over the coveted fight dates in May and September. Many insiders believed that Alvarez and Cotto would be fighting but as talks stalled, Alvarez moved forward from negotiations with Cotto. With the fight hitting some road blocks, Alvarez turned his attention to the left handed slugger (Kirkland). Both Alvarez and Kirkland like to mix it up and provide fan friendly fights. Many fans still have the image burned in their memory bank of Kirkland mixing it up with Angulo in Cancun Mexico where Kirkland rose from the canvas to KO Angulo in a fight of the year type fight. Since then Kirkland has produced similar a similar performance against the tough and rugged  Glen Tapia knocking Tapia out in the sixth round in December of 2013. Sidelined by injuries and some legal issues, Kirkland has been sidelined. Excited to be back in action and thankful for the opportunity to face Alvarez, Kirkland has promised fireworks and has stated that he is ready to go back to work.

Since losing to Floyd Mayweather, Alvarez has put together a very impressive two fight winning streak coming back against the dangerous Alfredo Angulo via 10^th rd. TKO and a SD victory over one of the most avoided super middleweight fighters in the division Erislandy Lara. With the Lara fight falling short of what we have come to normally expect when Alvarez fights, we can only assume that he is hungry to give the fans a great performance.

As we approach the highly anticipated fight on May 9^th, both fighters are prepared for a 12 rd. fight. If you ask either fighter for a prediction good luck, but one can only assume this fight will produce the fireworks boxing fans have longed for as both fighters gear up for an action packed affair.

How do you see this fight playing out? Send me your comments to ronnierayram@gmail.com