/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65657057/1157488014.jpg.0.jpg)
He is the only gas company employee/boxer we know of, and thus, Andrew Cancio has to be respected.
He works that 9-to-5 for Southern California Gas Company and is 31 years old. Cancio, aka “El Chango,” holds a WBA 130-pound strap, which he snagged from Alberto Machado in an upset earlier this year. On Nov. 23, he will defend against Rene Alvarado, with whom he is quite familiar.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he told me. “I know Rene is game, he’s a come-forward type of guy, he throws a lot of punches. I’m taking him very, very seriously.”
Cancio wants bigger bouts, fatter paydays — and he knows that comes with keeping on winning.
The Golden Boy boxer allowed himself an indulgence: he bought at ATV after the Machado win on Feb. 9 and his victory in the rematch against Machado on June 21.
But mostly, he’s been saving judiciously. And staying on message, holding down the 9-to-5 while giving equal attention to the craft of pugilism.
He isn’t looking past Alvarado — again, he stopped him in a 2015 rumble. But if Cancio (21-4-2, 16 KO) takes care of business on DAZN in a few weeks, darn right he’d like to book a rematch with JoJo Diaz (30-1, 15 KO).
He said he will shy away from no man, and for certain, he’d love to sign on to meet WBC titleholder Miguel Berchelt (37-1, 33 KO). Berchelt was last seen doing is thing versus Jason Sosa on Saturday night. He looked beastly, a rugged rumbler.
“I think Berchelt is a beast. Him and I would make a great, great war, for as long as it lasts,” Cancio declared. “I think our styles could match up perfectly to give fight fans a great, great fight.”
No, he said, there haven’t been discussions about making a Cancio versus Berchelt bout. Golden Boy and Top Rank have been intermingling, though, so he has high hopes that it could be done.
He also knows Berchelt has spoken of fighting Oscar Valdez, also on the Top Rank team, so maybe it’s likely we see Cancio vs Diaz 2 before Cancio vs Berchelt.
The Cali boxer said that all that speculation is just that, if he doesn’t get it done versus Alvarado.
He will watch Saturday, when 130-pound titlist Jamel Herring from Top Rank takes on Lamont Roach, a Golden Boy boxer.
“I will have a close eye on them, we’ll have to wait and see how that fight plays out,” he told me.
Readers, what is your preferred pathway for Cancio? If he beats Alvarado (31-8, 20 KO) again, you think we see Cancio defend versus JoJo?