Oscar De La Hoya and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to Hold a Press Conference Today

Added on Jan 20, 2011 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

Later today Oscar De La Hoya will hold a press conference to announce the red hot prospect Saul Alvarez’ next opponent. After beating two former world champions in Carlos Baldomir and Lovemore Ndou, Alvarez will step into the squared circle to face Matthew Hatton, the younger brother of former champion Ricky Hatton.

At the age of 20 Alvarez sports a record of 35-0 with 26 knockouts. He’s already been touted as the next Julio Caesar Chavez in Mexico where they treat him like a God. After signing with Golden Boy Promotions he’s looking to be a major star in the United States. If he remains as active as he was last year when he fought five times with two of them on major Pay-Per-View cards giving him some major national exposure. While I’m still not sure of the significance of it, Alvarez won the vacant WBC Silver light middleweight title with a win against Luciano Leonel Cuello. He then went on two defend it successfully against the aforementioned opponents of Baldomir and Ndou.

His opponent, Matthew Hatton, has strung together eight wins and a draw dating back to 2008. In March Hatton scored a 12 round unanimous decision over Gianluca Branca and in doing so picked up the vacant EBU (European) welterweight title. Just like Alvarez, Hatton defended his title twice. While Matthew doesn’t have the huge following his older brother Ricky had, a win over the Mexican phenom might change that.

After reading this it shouldn’t be a surprise as to what Oscar will announce when he takes the stage.

The press conference is open to the public and will take place at 1:00 PM at El Mercado of Los Angeles. Other notable figures in attendance will be Richard Schaefer (CEO of Golden Boy Promotions), Alverez trainer, Edison Raynoso as well as his manager Jose “Chepo” Raynoso.

Alvarez and Hatton (41-1, 16 KOs) are scheduled to square off on March 5th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The fight will be televised live on HBO Sports “Boxing After Dark” series.

It will be a battle of youth versus experience.

If the experience of Hatton leads him to victory we just might see his fellow Brits making their way across the pond to support their countryman. Most likely chanting “There’s only one Matthew Hatton.”

If the youth of Alvarez prevails Oscar De La Hoya just might have one of the sports biggest stars in boxing for years to come.