Canelo Alvarez puts the Mayweather loss in the past and looks towards the future

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, the golden boy of Mexican boxing in the current era, returned last Saturday night to meet fellow countryman Alfredo ‘El Perro’ Angulo. Following an avalanche loss on points to Floyd Mayweather, Alvarez came out to the opening bell with menacing intent. Landing 68% power shots in a punishing first five rounds, Canelo met the largely immobile Angulo head on.

Minutes before the stoppage, Virgil Hunter had warned Angulo in the corner that he was close to pulling him out. With Angulo walking on to one way traffic, the referee waved off the bout, one minute three seconds ahead of Lara’s stoppage of Angulo, also in round 10.

Alvarez does deserve credit for taking on the durable Angulo, after coming off a high profile loss at the hands of Floyd Mayweather. With an impressive showing on Saturday night, Canelo now moves forward to some appealing options. At 154lbs Erislandy Lara surely tops the list, provided he deals with Ishe Smith successfully in an impressive manner. One would hope that whilst Lara has been busy challenging Alvarez, he does not lose focus and become far sighted, looking beyond Smith.

A move up to middleweight looks to be on the cards for Alvarez as well, it is merely a question of when this will happen. Up at 160lbs, a bout with Miguel Cotto may resurface on the horizon. Whilst Cotto faces Sergio Martinez in June, an Alvarez-Cotto clash would be a popular choice regardless of the outcome.

If Martinez should have his hand raised in June, a bout against Alvarez would be an easy sell. Sergio’s mobile ring style may cause Canelo some problems. If Martinez has lost a gear, Alvarez with youth on his side may present questions for Martinez to answer in the second half of the fight. A Gennady Golovkin bout would seem most unlikely, whilst another belt holder in the division, Peter Quillin, is a viable option.

As Saul Alvarez leaves any doubts in the rear view mirror for now, Alfredo Angulo faces a different career landscape. Three losses via stoppage in his last three outings at the hands of Alvarez, Lara and Kirkland, the always game Angulo’s ascent of the light middleweight division is in free fall. Angulo may now slot into a gatekeeper role for fighters like Damian Jonak, Delvin Rodriguez, or Charles Bellamy looking to climb to the upper echelon of the rankings. A rematch with powerful slugger James Kirkland would be explosive but not advisable at this point. Angulo still has much to offer the sport, but not at the business end at this point.

Saul Alvarez and Alfredo Angulo reached a crossroads in their respective careers on Saturday night. Canelo rebounded from his first professional loss and peppered any doubts with heavy artillery to push forward with his career. Angulo unfortunately was on the receiving end of Canelo’s wrath and perhaps put an end to Alfredo’s days on the world title stage.