The drawing power of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, and the promotional prowess of Showtime will be tested come March 8th, after the deal was made official pitting the Mexican star against Alfredo "El Perro" Angulo.
Angulo is an entertaining fighter, well-known for engaging in slugfests; this is good for Alvarez, who has been matched up with defensive tacticians Austin Trout and Floyd Mayweather Jr., in his previous two bouts.
Despite Angulo's fan-friendly style, his resume is somewhat lacking to be rewarded with a high-profile pay-per-view date. Angulo is 2-2 in his last four fights, with the two losses coming against the two best opponents, James Kirkland and Erislandy Lara. The loss to Lara was somewhat controversial, as he sustained severe swelling of his eye late in the fight that forced him to quit. Most believe Lara was beating him on the cards, but "El Perro" had knocked the Cuban down twice.
Regardless, he is coming off a loss in his last bout, vs. Lara, who openly called out Alvarez and dominated Trout his last time out. From the get-go, it seemed clear Lara's opportunity to face Alvarez wouldn't come in March though. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer said he didn't want Lara to get the shot because fans don't like "chess matches."
Angulo's name recognition is low, so Golden Boy is relying on Alvarez's star power to drive sales. Still Schaefer's not worried about how the PPV numbers will look, and didn't consider airing the card on regular cable.
"Canelo is a huge star, so going on pay-per-view was not an issue," Schaefer said. "You see it when he goes somewhere in Los Angeles or Mexico. He has that charisma where people are drawn to him. I saw that in San Antonio in December when he came to the (Marcos Maidana-Adrien Broner card). The ovation he got was crazy. People embrace him. The fans go nuts, the females love him. You win some and you lose some. He had his first loss against Mayweather, the best fighter in the world, and there is no shame in that.
"But just because you lose to Floyd doesn't mean you lose. He's been exposed to so many people because of it, and that increased exposure is a good thing for Canelo and his career."
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