During his professional career of 63 fights, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alavrez has only been defeated by Floyd Mayweather back in 2013 and Dmitri Bivol last spring.
Despite his glittering record, there is a simple stylistic blue print to exploit Alvarez’ flaws and box to victory – well, according to his former promoter Oscar De La Hoya, that is.
In a recent interview with Fight Hub TV, De La Hoya detailed the style needed to give his countryman trouble, saying he “walks in quick sand.”
“Any style that you give Canelo which is similar to Bivol, he’s going to have trouble with. Anyone who stays on their toes, flicks a jab in front of his face and knows how to keep the distance, Canelo is going to have trouble with.
Because he walks in quicksand, that’s just how his style is. It’s worked for him all these years, and he’s become accustomed to knocking his opponents out and walking them down with a lot of power.
Anyone who tries to box him and have a similar style to Bivol, he’s going to have a lot of trouble with.”
It will be interesting to see if Alvarez’ next opponent Jermell Charlo goes for the approach recommended by De La Hoya, when he takes on the undisputed super middleweight world champion at the T-Mobile Arena on September 30th.
Charlo, an undisputed champion himself at light middleweight, will jump up two weight classes to take on ‘Canelo,’ after being drafted in due to negotiations with his twin brother Jermall breaking down.