Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo have both displayed granite chins even against dangerous punchers during their careers.
One respected trainer still expects their 12-round super middleweight title fight to end in a knockout September 30. Bob Santos predicted during a recent virtual trainers’ roundtable discussion hosted by Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions that Alvarez or Charlo will lose inside the distance for the first time in his career.
“It’s gonna be a lot better fight than I think people think for as long as it lasts,” Santos said during a question-and-answer session that also featured Ronnie Shields, Charlo’s former trainer, Calvin Ford and Robert Garcia.
Mexico’s Alvarez oftentimes has received the benefit of the doubt on the scorecards in Las Vegas, yet Santos doesn’t think that the judges’ scores will matter when Alvarez encounters Charlo in this Showtime Pay-Per-View main event at T-Mobile Arena.
“I’m not thinking so,” Santos said. “I think somebody’s gonna get stopped. I’m not gonna say who. You know, I like both guys. I think whoever makes a little bit more, the most mistakes as the fight progresses on, that’s gonna be the guy who’s gonna be victorious and who’s gonna be able to capitalize on that.”
Santos – who trains WBC interim middleweight champ Carlos Adames and WBA super featherweight champ Hector Luis Garcia, among others – believes too much has been made of Alvarez’s size advantage. He emphasized that Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs), who stands approximately four inches taller than Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs), is a big guy who will weigh approximately the same amount as Alvarez on fight night.
The 33-year-old Charlo, a Houston native, will nevertheless make his debut at the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds versus Alvarez, 14 pounds above the division in which he has competed exclusively for the past 13 years. Alvarez, who is also 33, is undefeated in seven super middleweight matches, though, and won the WBO light heavyweight title when he knocked out Russia’s Sergey Kovalev in the 11th round of their November 2019 bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“You know, honestly, in all seriousness, I can envision each guy capitalizing on something to get the job done,” Santos replied when asked who will win by knockout or technical knockout. “Because there’s times I’ve seen Canelo get a little bit gassed in the Triple-G fights. I know the type of work Charlo puts in. I expect him to have a tremendous gas tank, as Ronnie said. You know, I’m really not sure. You know, you put a gun to my head, do I think Canelo’s gonna be victorious in this fight? Yes, but it wouldn’t surprise me that Charlo stopped him or he stopped Charlo. I wouldn’t be surprised either way. So, like I said, who’s gonna capitalize on whose mistakes?
“I like Charlo, the fact that a lot of times he’s punching, you know, very straight, direct. Like I said, I used to watch him with Ronnie so many times working the pads, and the technique that they worked with. And I can see him catching [Canelo]. Sometimes Canelo, you know, banging to the body with that left hook, catching him with some good, straight punches and stuff like that. So, if he buzzed Canelo or hurt Canelo or got him out of there, I wouldn’t be surprised. But I think somebody’s getting stopped. You know what I mean? That’s what I think. I don’t know who, but I think somebody’s getting stopped that night.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.