Saul "Canelo" Alvarez will put his WBC light middleweight title on the line on Saturday night against Jonesito Lopez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Alvarez's last fight—a unanimous 12-round defeat of Shane Mosley—kept his career loss column clear as he sports a 40-0-1 record, including 29 knockouts.
Given Alvarez's resume, it's not surprising that he's a heavy favorite heading into Saturday night's throw down.
After defeating Victor Ortiz, Lopez lost to Jessie Vargas and doesn't have the momentum or confidence that Alvarez does heading into this fight.
Physically, Alvarez has the size and strength advantage over his opponent, which is one of the reasons why ESPN's boxing expert Dan Rafael picked Canelo to win the fight.
Alvarez is no Victor Ortiz. He will adjust better than Ortiz did and ultimately the size, power and determination are going to be too much for Lopez, who is a good junior welterweight, not a top junior middleweight.
I expect a good rumble while it lasts with Alvarez stopping Lopez in the mid-rounds.
One thing that will be important for Alvarez is to keep the fight at his pace. He's a heavy favorite for a reason, and as long as he executes and uses his strengths to his advantages, he should come out of this one fairly easily.
No one is giving Lopez a chance—including myself—and Alvarez has made it known that he's not going to take his opponent lately.
As he told Bob Velin of USA Today, "Josesito earned the right to be here. I'm not underestimating him at all. I want to continue on this path, but I have to get through Josesito first."
As one of boxing's highest-rising superstars, Alvarez will take care of business on Saturday night and keep his undefeated record unscathed.
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