HBO PPV Boxing Preview: Canelo vs. Chavez, Lemieux vs. Reyes, Matthysse vs. Taylor
By: William Holmes
On Saturday night HBO will televised another Canelo Alvarez Pay Per View as he takes on fellow Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
This bout will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada during Cinco De Mayo weekend. Hopefully, the winner of this bout, expected by many to be Canelo, will be next in line to take on the current middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin.
Photo Credit: Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions
At least two bouts will be shown on the undercard, including Golden Boy mainstays David Lemieux and Lucas Matthysse. Super prospect Joseph Diaz will also likely be on the televised portion of the card.
The following is a preview of the three main fights.
Lucas Matthysse (37-4) vs. Emmanuel Taylor (20-4); Welterweights
The hard hitting Lucas Matthysse has long been a fan favorite, but has not competed since being knocked out by Viktor Postol in 2015.
Matthysse will be giving up one inch in height to Taylor but will have a significant four inch reach advantage. Age may be a factor for Matthysse as he is thirty four years old and eight years older than his opponent.
Inactivity will also be a factor for Matthysse; he fought zero times in 2016 and twice in 2015. Taylor fought twice in 2016 and once in 2015.
Matthysse was an amateur champion in Argentina but did not have a lot of success on the international circuit as an amateur. Taylor is a three time National PAL Champion and a five time junior golden gloves champion.
Matthysse has the more impressive list of defeated opponents. He has beaten the likes of Ruslan Provodnikov, Roberto Ortiz, John Molina Jr., Lamont Peterson, Mike Dallas Jr., AJose Olusegun, Humberto Soto, DeMarcus Corley, and Vivian Harris. He has closes losses to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, and had more convincing losses to Danny Garcia and Viktor Postol.
Taylor has defeated the likes of Karim Mayfield, Victor Manuel Cayo, and Raymond Serrano. His losses were to Antonio Orozco, Adrien Broner, Chris Algieri, and Prenice Brewer.
Taylor has gone 3-3 in his last six fights and has difficulty beating opponents on the highest level. Matthysse has been inactive the past two years, but has faced and defeated opponents with a much better pedigree than Taylor.
Matthysse should win this bout and should possibly give Taylor his first knockout loss.
David Lemieux (37-3) vs. Marcos Reyes (35-4); Middleweights
Many consider Lemieux to be the third best middleweight behind Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez.
Unfortunately for fight fans, Lemieux has the easiest opponent on paper for the night.
Lemieux is one year younger than his opponent and will be giving up about four inches in height. Lemieux has thirty three stoppage victories on his record while Reyes only has twenty six. Both boxers have been stopped during their careers, as Lemieux has two stoppage defeats while Reyes has one.
Reyes has no notable amateur background and Lemieux is a three time Canadian National Amateur Champion.
Lemieux has defeated the likes of Curtis Stevens, Glen Tapia, Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, Gabriel Rosado, Fernando Guerrero, Jose Miguel Torres, Hector Camacho Jr., and Elvin Ayala. He has losses to Marco Antonio Rubio, Joachim Alcine, and Gennady Golovkin.
Reyes only good win was to Rogelio Medina. His losses were to Elvin Ayala, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Abraham Han and Amilcar Edgardo Funes Melian.
Some fights are close calls and hard to pick. This isn’t one of them.
Lemieux will win.
Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1); Super Middleweights
This is one of the biggest bouts to be made between two Mexican boxers. One is considered by many to be the heir apparent to the throne of Floyd Mayweather Jr. when he retires. The other is the son of a legend and very successful in his own right.
Canelo was a former Junior Mexican National Boxing Champion and turned pro at the age of fifteen. Chavez only had two amateur fights and no notable amateur accomplishments.
Chavez is thirty one and is starting to near the end of his physical prime. Canelo is only twenty six and has a lot of years left in boxing during his physical prime. Chavez will have a noticeable size advantage. He will be four inches taller than his opponent and will have about a two and a half inch reach advantage.
Both boxers have some power in their hands, but Canelo appears to have the advantage. Canelo has thirty four stoppages on his resume and has stopped three of his past four opponents. Chavez has thirty two stoppages on his record, but only one of his last five opponents failed to go the distance with him.
Canelo has a very impressive list of defeated boxers and has averaged two fights a year since 2012. He has defeated the likes of Liam Smith, Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland, Erislandy Lara, Alfredo Angulo, Austin Trout, Josesito Lopez, Shane Mosley, and Kermit Cintron. His lone loss was to Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Chavez has defeated the likes of Marcos Reyes, Brian Vera, Andy Lee, Marco Antonio Rubio, Peter Manfredo Jr., Sebastian Zbik, and John Duddy. He has lost to Andrzej Fonfara and Sergio Martinez.
Chavez has claimed that he is rededicated to the sport and training hard for this fight. However, his inability to stay focused for fights during training has been long documented and it’s hard to suddenly say I’m going to be in shape for this fight when you haven’t taken your training seriously in the past.
Canelo is too good and too technical for someone like Chavez to suddenly commit to the sport of boxing wholeheartedly to defeat. Chavez will have his moments, but Canelo will emerge victorious.