Canelo Alvarez vs. Austin Trout: Houston, TX Press Conference Summary

03/15/2013 ESB

By: Steve Lopez – Day 2 of the 3-city Texas press tour for the highly anticipated super welterweight showdown between undefeated WBC Super Welterweight Champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and WBA Super Welterweight Champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout continued this Thursday in Houston, TX. I had the privilege to attend the conference and here are some of the highlights from the event.

With a large Latin American community, the Houston, TX crowd was undoubtedly pro-Canelo.

“Canelo! Canelo! Canelo! Canelo!”

That was the instant reaction of the crowd when Saul Alvarez took the podium on Thursday’s Houston, TX Press Conference. The roars were so loud that one could somewhat feel the vibrations of the roars in the air. But before the fighters took the stand, promoters and members of each team addressed the media and the fans to hype up the event. Here are some notable quotes from the conference.

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Canelo and Trout Press Tour Notes From San Antonio

03/15/201303/14/2013 ESB

Cara a cara By Marc Livitz: in San Antonio, TX. Two undefeated boxing sensations visited the Alamo City this afternoon. In front of perhaps more than five hundred fans, unbeaten Mexican fight superstar and WBC super welterweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and undefeated WBA Super Welterweight champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout kicked off their 3-city Texas press tour this afternoon. The venue which will host the event on April 20, The Alamodome has been the site of a few memorable fights over the years, most notably the contest of which the highly questionable result still resonates to this day, the September 1993 matchup between Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker, which ended in a dubious draw.

San Antonio mayor Julian Castro was the first to the podium and expressed his sincere happiness of being the host of such a great event for the city. Castro commented, “San Antonio has a rich and proud boxing history. Who could forget in 1993 when (Julio Cesar) Chavez fought (Pernell) Whitaker and other great names such as (James) Leija and (Robert) Quiroga?”

Former boxing great and current CEO of Golden Boy Promotions Oscar de la Hoya was the second speaker and like Mr. Castro, he spoke of the great tradition of San Antonio and his overall feeling of delight of bringing the event to south Texas.

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez: Share the Suffering

03/07/2013 ESB

alvarez5654 By Marc Livitz – Call it a set of brass ones or just impenetrable will.

Maybe it’s a bit of both; or worse yet, it could be the incessant voices in either ear of one Saul “Canelo” Alvarez which led him to draw an indelible line in the pugilistic dirt. The admissions last week from Canelo’s side of the negotiating table ultimately meant that he’d be removing his name, likeness and participation from the highly anticipated (maybe that’s a bit of a stretch) fight card which was (and still is) set to take place in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 4.

Capitalism, free will, best interests, or perhaps a case of borderline Narcissism? Allow us to take a quick look at what has transpired.

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Saul Alvarez vs. Austin Trout on Showtime non-PPV on 4/20 in San Antonio, Texas

02/27/2013 ESB

alvarez5654 By Jeff Sorby: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) has decided to pull out of the May 4th card on Showtime/CBS pay per view after failing to get Floyd Mayweather Jr. to agree to fight him on September 14th. That was the condition that the 22-year-old Canelo set for Mayweather Jr. in order to fight on his undercard and help pump up the PPV numbers.

So instead of Canelo fighting on May 4th, he’ll be fighting on April 20th in a non-PPV bout on regular Showtime against WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s), says Dan Rafael of ESPN. For boxing fans, this is a really good deal because they won’t have to pay to see Canelo fight other than signing up for Showtime if they don’t currently have it.

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Canelo could pull out of May 4th PPV card if he doesn’t receive Mayweather fight guarantee

02/27/201302/27/2013 ESB

alvarez3 - Copy By Kevin Chittenden: Floyd Mayweather Jr’s May 4th card could take a big hit if WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) chooses to pull out of the card and fight on another date. Canelo was supposed to be the co-main event in a fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout, but Canelo reportedly wants a guarantee from Mayweather that he’ll fight him on September 14th.

Canelo won’t sign for the May 4th fight date unless he receives that guarantee, and it doesn’t look like Mayweather is going to go that. It was thought that Mayweather would fight Canelo in September, but maybe he has other ideas or possibly he doesn’t like the idea of Canelo trying to force the fight instead of letting Mayweather select him.

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Mayweather vs. Guerrero and Canelo vs. Trout could be announced next week

02/15/2013 ESB

canelo1 canelo1 By Bill Phanco: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) is reporting on his twitter that he’ll be facing WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s) on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. undercard on May 4th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Also, Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Robert Diaz is reporting that Golden Boy will be announcing Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero and Trout vs. Canelo fight card for May 4th within days.
Here’s what Canelo said on his twitter today: “Canelo vs. Trout, May 4, MGM.”

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Rafael doubts Canelo will face Trout on May 4th

01/18/2013 ESB

alvarez343 By Jeff Sorby: Dan Rafael of ESPN believes that if WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez does fight on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. undercard on May 4th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, it won’t be against the unbeaten WBA World junior middleweight Austin Trout.

Rafael also thinks the only way Canelo will agree to fight on the card will be if he’s given a guarantee to fight Mayweather later in the year on September 14th.

That’s pretty much what a lot of people think is going to happen. Canelo will take a risk-free fight on May 4th, and then look to get the Mayweather payday in September. It probably doesn’t matter to casual boxing fans whether Canelo faces Austin Trout or not on May 4th because they’ll be interested in seeing Canelo fight even if Golden Boy Promotions matches him up against another light welterweight like his last opponent Josesito Lopez.

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Saul Alvarez looking to get Mayweather bout on September 14th

01/10/201301/09/2013 ESB

alvarez4534 By Bill Phanco: Whether WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) fights on Golden Boy Promotion’s May 4th fight card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, may come down to whether Golden Boy can get him a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. later on in the year on September 14th.

According to fightnews.com, a source has reported that Alvarez hasn’t agreed yet to fight on the Mayweather pay per view undercard on May 4th against possibly WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout.

Apparently, the deal that Alvarez is looking for is a guaranteed fight against Mayweather Jr. on September 14th before he’ll agree to fight on the May 4th card. If Alvarez can’t get that deal then he’ll fight on another date. He could even fight in Mexico.

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Canelo vs. Mayweather possible for 2013

01/08/201301/07/2013 ESB

alvarez922 By Rob Smith: Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya says that his record 2.4 million pay per view buys that he got for his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007 could be broken on either May 4th or September 14th this year. On both dates, Mayweather and WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be in action, although not necessarily against each other. Golden Boy wants to match the two fighters together on one of those dates, and De La Hoya thinks that enough boxing fans will be interested in seeing a fight of that nature that it will break his PPV record.

De La Hoya said to RingTV “Those two dates – May 4th and September 14, I’m actually looking forward to one of those dates to break my all-time pay per view record. Those two dates, you’re going to see a blockbuster. Blockbuster, that’s all you need to know.”

There’s no question that an Alvarez-Mayweather fight would do well, but it wouldn’t break De La Hoya’s record. In fact, I don’t think it’ll come close. De La Hoya was an established star when he fought Mayweather in 2007. De La Hoya was an ex-USA Olympian, he had fought the likes of Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker, and Fernando Vargas by the time he fought Mayweather. What can you say about Canelo?

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Saul Alvarez could fight on Mayweather undercard on May 4th

12/31/2012 ESB

By Brad Cronick: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) is rumored to be fighting on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s next fight on May 4th next year but nothing is confirmed on that end as of yet. Alvarez is hoping that he’ll get the fight with Mayweather on that date but it’s not looking like that’s going to happen. It’s possible but not probable because Robert Guerrero’s name has been the one mentioned as the likely opponent for Mayweather.

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