Saúl Álvarez vs. James Kirkland

:happy

So who you got in Cotto vs. Kirkland @ 160??

 

That entire hypothetical scenario, by the way, also hinges on the dubious proposition of Cotto being able to hold onto said title for more than a defense or two. (which seems like it would require avoiding real middleweight contenders, and under no circumstances attempting unification...)

 

Yeah, that's a proud man, I can't see him milking it with defenses against, say, WBC #15 Caleb Truax or a rematch with Maravilla. (still at #5, somehow)

Fortunately the rest of the WBC top 15 (which I believe is as far down the line as he's allowed to cull a voluntary) is full of guys that are either too unattractive in risk/reward to consider or would be vaguely worth challengers - or at the very least make for guaranteed exciting and explosive match-ups with Cotto:

Muray, Lemieux, Heiland, Saunders, Geale, Quillin, Johnson, Murata, Mora, Stevens, Magomedov, Monroe Jr., and Eubank Jr.

 

Yeah, I've been following the "yes/no?" saga as it unfolds on Twitter.

From what I can gather, it currently is "very close" to being signed and set - which Kirkland's manager told someone, possibly someone at The Ring, who maybe wasn't supposed to blab about it just yet.

So the "leak" might actually hamper it officially getting finalized, if parties involved get salty.

That would suck. I'd much rather have waited to know and have it be 100%.

 

It has been discussed before, though I've never really given Alvarez vs. Kirkland as much thought as picturing them in the ring together or thinking about how it would unfold with their styles & habits. :think

Tale of the tape:

Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez
5'9" tall
71" reach
Orthodox
24 years old
44-1-1 (31)
1st round KO's - 5 (last in September 2009). Eight in the 2nd round.

Álvarez vs. southpaws - Mixed success. Technically unbeaten. Álvarez is 4-0 (1) against lefties. He beat Ricardo Cano via UD in his first career twelve-rounder for the Jalisco State welterweight title just weeks after his seventeenth birthday, and later absolutely prison-*****ed Ryan Rhodes when the former Spice Boy played his cutesy "Look at me, I can switch stances!" card, landing twice as much as when Rhodes fought righty. However, class and youth told in that instance (and bad tactics by Rhodes) more than any particular aptitude for thwarting left-handed fighters. When he fought prime elite southpaws, it wasn't such easy work. Many felt Álvarez vs. Trout was extremely close (though consensus had Álvarez shading it, or at worst a draw) and many including myself saw him losing outright to an even slicker and overall vastly superior counter-punching southpaw in Lara (who proved a full level above Trout h2h).

James "The Mandingo Warrior" Kirkland
5'9" tall
70" reach
Southpaw
30 years old (will be 31 on fight night)
32-1 (28.)
1st round KO's - 9 (last in June 2011) + several additional bouts with knockdowns scored in the 1st (Ossie Duran, Mohammad Said, Alexis Hloros, Alfredo Angulo, probably a few more); also lost via one. (down 5x in the first - once against Alfredo Angulo, thrice against Nobuhiro Ishida, once against Allen Conyers, and nearly against Jhon Berrio, stunned very badly). Five in the 2nd round.

Kirkland vs. Mexicans - Mixed success. Technically unbeaten. Kirkland is 7-0 (5) against hijos de Mexico, crushing a few cans early on (Rodriguez, Pedraza, and Soto, if you care - the other Latino names dotting his record are of various South American provenance, statistically, mostly Dominicans) and then destroying 6'1" and respectable if padded record holding Ricardo Cortes in two rounds...which may have been more impressive had Angulo not done the same earlier that year. His two really notable Mexican opponents are El Perro himself (engaging in a brutal two-way attrition war and emerging victorious but severely damaged) and Carlos Molina (down on the cards as Molina had begun to comfortably outbox and frustrate Kirkland through nine, before Kirkland starting coming on strong with his power leading to a confusing DQ leaving all parties dissatisfied and claiming they were robbed of a legitimate conclusion)


They have 1 common opponent: Alfredo Angulo. Both defeated him via TKO. It was perhaps more of a chore for Kirkland (having to rise from a knockdown just thirty seconds after the opening bell, yet going on to win all subsequent rounds; whereas Canelo dropped about two over ten) but he did it 4 rounds faster.