Canelo Alvarez vs Ulises Solis: Even Without Criminal Charges, Canelo Now Questionable

By now you've probably heard about the alleged altercation between WBC 154-pound titlist Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and IBF 108-pound titlist Ulises "Archie" Solis down in Mexico, but if you haven't, here's the Solis side of the story, via Rick Reeno:

Solis suffered a broken jaw and a broken tooth and he was taken to a local hospital, where the boxer is scheduled undergo surgery later tonight.

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"Yes, it's true and there will be criminal charges. It's sad because Canelo is denying everything. Finally he fought a good fighter, except it took place in the street. I think Canelo went over to Archie because of something he said about him. The version we have is the version of Archie Solis. He said that Canelo came to him and said 'I was looking for you **** and you ****.' Then he pushed him. And then he started attacking him with punches. He broke his jaw and broke a tooth. He's going to have surgery later tonight," [promoter Fernando] Beltran told BoxingScene.com.

There's really no way to spin this, if true, to make Alvarez look good. If Solis had thrown the first punch, it still doesn't look good. Alvarez is not a big man by the standards of folks just walking around in the world, but at his walk-around weight and with his 5'9" height, he's an absolute monster compared to Solis, who is 5'3" and, again, fights at 108 pounds.

The WBC says they plan to investigate, whatever that means, because the WBC always likes to jump in on things like this. I guess that sort of makes them more of a legitimate governing body in some ways, but it always feels like they try for damage control:

"We don’t have confirmation on the extent of [Alvarez's] involvement, other than what we’ve read in the media," WBC Secretary General Mauricio Sulaiman. "Our rules are very clear in regards to conduct of a champion. If there is a legal ruling in a court of law that finds him guilty, we will follow our rules to the letter."

If Alvarez were to be convicted of a crime and serve jail time, he would be stripped of his title. More actually important, his boxing career would meet the sort of dead end it doesn't need. We're talking about a 21-year-old kid with major commercial appeal in Mexico and the United States, a guy who may not be the greatest pure boxing prospect out there, but probably has the most money upside right now among up-and-coming fighters. How far back would he be set?

And furthermore, does this portend future trouble for Alvarez? If he is, in fact, the type of guy who attacks junior flyweights on the street and gets himself into legal trouble, there's reason to be concerned about incidents like this continuing to happen.

Maybe it's all coming too fast and Alvarez isn't ready for the pressure. He's a coming attraction in the States still, but already a superstar in Mexico, where he lives, trains, and still fights frequently. There are already a lot of people putting him on a pedestal there. Some guys don't deal with fame well, in every walk of sports or entertainment.

Alvarez next fights in the ring on November 26, facing Kermit Cintron on HBO.