Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, a 22-year-old rising Mexican star with possibly the most rabid fan base in the sport, is taking on Austin Trout Saturday night. Trout's last fight was in December 2012, when he shocked the boxing world and defeated Miguel Cotto in Madison Square Garden. Trout is often avoided by top fighters due to his high skill-level but relative anonymity beyond hardcore fans.
Trout expressed respect toward Alvarez for deciding to fight him. "I have much respect for Canelo for demanding this fight," Trout said. "Some people don't want to fight Austin Trout, but when his people didn't want him to fight me, then he made his demands known and as a hungry true champion should, he called out for the best. So there's much respect to him for that and for putting his foot down and making that happen.
The fight was rumored to be on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather's May 4th pay-per-view bout with Robert Guerrero, and a Mayweather-Alvarez fight was expected to follow in the fall. Alvarez broke away from Mayweather, however, when he could not get Mayweather to guarantee a fight in the fall. Alvarez decided to headline his own event on Showtime.
Alvarez has a rematch clause in this contract, meaning he can call in a rematch if Trout comes out on top, but if Alvarez takes care of business he is able to seek other opportunities. This is a factor that brings trash talk out of the confident Trout.
"They tried hard not to make a fight, but I wonder how that must feel for him knowing that your team doesn't have the utmost confidence in you. I don't know that feeling. My team believes in me," Trout said of the rematch clause.
Alvarez has a 41-0-1 record including 30 knockout victories, and possesses vaunted punching power. Still, the highest-profile fighter Alvarez has beaten is "Sugar" Shane Mosley, who was well past his prime when he received his battering from Canelo. This is widely considered to be his toughest fight yet.
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