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With just over two months remaining until Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez returns to the ring following his blowout loss in September to Floyd Mayweather in boxing's biggest-ever money fight, the question now is who the young redhead will be facing.
Manager Chepo Reynoso says that fights with IBF junior middleweight titleholder Carlos Molina and/or power-punching Alfredo Angulo have been approved. Let's do some super deep analysis of these two options.
Alfredo Angulo
Pros
- Exciting style, always comes to fight.
- Has the Puncher's Chance, even if he'd be a sizable underdog.
- Not a big name, but due to his all-action reputation and highlight clips, probably an easier sell.
Cons
- He isn't very good. Like, he's a good fighter and stuff, but he's very limited, and everyone knows it now.
- It's questionable how good he's going to be from this point on. He hasn't exactly been great since his return from an unfortunate stint in an immigration detention center ("unfortunate" is my nice way of putting it), and Erislandy Lara stopped him last time out.
Carlos Molina
Pros
- Has a world title, so it can be billed as a Super Welterweight Championship Fight. Yay! Belts!
- Is a difficult, tricky fighter who probably has the better chance of the two at scoring the upset.
Cons
- Essentially zero name value.
- Is a difficult, tricky fighter who probably has the better chance of the two at scoring the upset. (See, this is really clever. #greatwriting)
Molina (22-5-2, 6 KO) is a lot better than his record suggests, as at least four of his five losses were highly debatable at best. Angulo (22-3, 18 KO) is a diehard fan favorite and for great reasons, but outside of a big shot that changes the complexion of the fight, I think it's hard to see him having any realistic shot at beating Canelo.
Which would you rather see? The guaranteed more exciting fight, or the fight that would appear to have the greater chance at a potentially unforeseen outcome? I don't mean that to sound like there's a wrong answer, either, because there's not. It's totally understandable either way, at least in my opinion. What do you think?