Golden Boy Promotions Re-Signs Saúl “El Canelo” Álvarez

Added on Sep 22, 2010 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

At just 20 years of age, Guadalajara, Mexico’s Saúl Álvarez has all the makings of not just a future world champion but the potential to be one of the sport’s biggest stars. Following his highly impressive sixth round knockout over former welterweight champion, Carlos Baldomir, Oscar De La Hoya wasted no time in re-signing the rising superstar to his Golden Boy Promotions stable of fighters.”If anyone wasn’t convinced that ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is a future World Champion, they have to be believers now,” said de la Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions.

“At just 20 years old, he knocked out a tough former World Champion who had only been knocked out one time in 64 fights and that was 16 years ago. He is going to be a star in this sport for a long time, and we’re proud to have him on our team.”

The fighter known as “El Canelo”, which is spanish for cinammon, was given the nickname due to his red hair. While he bears a resemblance to famed director Ron Howard in his Richie Cunningham days, fans shouldn’t be at all surprised at the ferocity he brings with him to the ring on any given night.

Just a few months following his 15th birthday, Alvarez made his debut in the squared circle in his home state of Jalisco where he registered a TKO in the fourth and final round of his bout with Abraham Gonzalez. In his five year career “El Canelo” has made 35 trips to the ring and, with the exception of a 2006 draw with Jorge Juarez, has remained unbeated with all but eight of his 34 wins coming inside of the scheduled distance.

It wouldn’t be until 2008 that Alvarez would venture out from the Mexico fight scene as he made his debut in the United States at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Southern California where he defeated Larry Mosley with a comfortable 10 round unanimous decision in a Golden Boy Promotions event.

The De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer promotional firm officially signed Alvarez to the company earlier this year prior to his fight with Jose Miguel Cotto (older brother of the Puerto Rican superstar, Miguel Cotto) on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Sugar Shane Mosley superfight. Alvarez made the best of what was without a doubt the biggest fight of his career as he survived an early scrare to ultimately stop Cotto in the ninth round via TKO.

His win over Cotto was followed by another impressive victory in his hometown of Guadalajara where he needed just six rounds to claim the vacant WBC Silver light middleweight title against Leonel Cuello.

This past weekend Alvarez once again got a taste of a Pay-Per-View televised bout on a Shane Mosley undercard as Mosley took on Sergio Mora at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. His opponent, Carlos Baldomir, presented the biggest test of his career without question. Baldomir, who once held the WBC Welterweight championship, was no match for Alvarez on this night and fell victim in the sixth round as referee Jose Cobian waved the bout off marking the first successful defense of Alvarez’ minor title.

“I’m happy with my performance against Baldomir and to re-sign with Golden Boy Promotions,” said Alvarez. ”Getting to this point in my career has been a team effort, and with the people I have around me, I’m confident that the next step will be a World Championship.”

Just as the raucous crown indicated, Saul Alvarez is clearly an exciting fighter and a sure fire star in the making and the brass at Golden Boy Promotions agree.

“Saul Alvarez is one of those special fighters that can transcend the sport and become a star not only in Mexico and the United States, but around the world,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. ”He has it all, in and out of the ring, and the next step is to get him ready for a shot at a World Championship.”