Love is magical such that it makes living beautiful like no other. Or love is the place to start life all over again. But contrary to what most people think of love, it is not always about being near or physically intimate with the one you love. “Got to believe in magic,” says the songwriter/crooner Pomeranz.
In the case of Canelo Alvarez and Alfredo Angulo, love means having to beat each other on the forthcoming “Toe-To-Toe” Valentine’s Day which is set on March 8 for them. And it means a lot more than winning for Alvarez; it ought to be a day for him to start afresh in his boxing career for he is coming off his only but humiliating loss against the great dud Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September 14.
Alvarez responded when recently asked what a perfect Valentine means to him: “If I’m with the person I love, any place is perfect.” Wonderful!
Certainly Canelo loves to conquer the slugfest at the MGM Grand Arena next month beyond bonding with his most beloved on that Valentine’s Day of his own. Though, the perfect place for him to do it is not in the cool flowery, breezy park or any sweet romantic rendezvous of his choice with his girlfriend, but the hot and intense boxing ring with the wicked all-action Angulo.
It is good that Canelo knows how to acknowledge his inadequacy and potential at his young age after his loss to Mayweather by saying, “I’m a student of the game… but I love the challenge.”
“One defeat is not everything. The biggest boxers in history have been defeated. For instance, Muhammad Ali was defeated and he came back and made history. So here I am, moving forward. I fight to make boxing history. The fight is a hard one. Angulo is a strong fighter. He hits hard and can last a long time in the ring. He always makes the fight tough and you have to work hard to beat him.”
Therefore, rise to the challenge, Canelo. Beat on March 8 the Olympiad who used to hold the WBO Light Middleweight title and who defeated Timothy Bradley in an amateur boxing. Love to be a champion again and emerge to become even better than the “cherry pick” veteran who schooled and whacked you.
Be brave and do a Sugar Ray Robinson when he battled Jake Lamotta for the sixth time to win the heart of the boxing world on February 14, 1951. And do it again, and again. Note that Lamotta was the only boxer then who became successful in tarnishing the brave Robinson’s perfect record in 123 fights.
Bear in mind that losing bravely is better than winning cowardly. Alongside exerting your hardest effort in training at this time, reminisce the former days of the passionate Canelo to rekindle the youthful idealism of the red-haired Latino boxing sensation and cause new fans the world over to fall for boxing.
Make your favorite movie, The Notebook, real in your true-to-life story.
Look forward to the Past. Or look back to the Future.
That’s Love.
renimvalenzuela@yahoo.com