Saul Alvarez Versus Paul Williams: Give Canelo Some Credit for This One

Earlier this week it was announced that WBC light middleweight champion Saul Alvarez, 40(29)-0-1, would meet former two-division world champion Paul Williams, 41(27)-2(1), this September 15 at the MGM Grand In Las Vegas, Nevada.

The week after Alvarez beat Mosley on the Cotto-Mayweather undercard, I wrote an article about my top five dream opponents for Saul Alvarez and "The Punisher" was one of them.  

But like it said in the title, these were dream opponents. The 21-year-old Alvarez is already off to a fast start in his career. He is a box-office sensation and has understandably been handled with some care during his development.

On the other hand, he is a 21-year-old athlete with over 40 professional fights and three successful world title defenses, each one more impressive than the last. Certainly there has been some intelligent matchmaking done with Alvarez during his career, but he's been swimming over his head for quite awhile now.

In picking Paul Williams for his next tour of duty, Canelo is sending the message that he is confident enough to start taking the sort of risks that lead to greatness.

Paul Williams is an awkward southpaw with eight inches of reach on Alvarez. At 30, he has been around the block but still has plenty of tread on the tire. His list of opponents beaten is better than Alvarez's, though one or two of his wins are questionable in some peoples' opinion.

My initial reaction is that Alvarez wins this one and looks good doing it. I think he'll be able to finesse his way inside on the lefty and pound the body. 

But make no mistake, Alvarez has picked an opponent who has the potential to beat him or at least give him a very tough night's work. Williams is a busy fighter who will give Alvarez some difficult looks. 

In the boxing game today, it is common to see a top draw like Alvarez brought along with very few risks until he can be set up in the biggest payday possible. It's understandable. Boxing has to be treated like a business by the men who risk their health to make their living at it. 

That's why it's truly special when a young fighter like Alvarez has the bravado to take bigger risks than he has to. Prior to this fight getting made, there had been a lot of rumors about Alvarez fighting James Kirkland next September. 

That would have been an exciting fight, but Kirkland would have been a more straight-forward challenge for Alvarez. In my opinion that was a less risky fight for him than Paul Williams.

For Williams, this might be his last shot. His devastating KO loss to Martinez followed by his questionable win over Erislandry Lara caused his stock to dip considerably, and his one-sided unanimous decision over Nobuhiro Ishida doesn't necessarily prove he is back to world-class status.

If he can beat Alvarez, he declares himself a major player again at 154 pounds and demonstrates that he has returned to the kind of pound-for-pound status he held circa 2009, prior to his demolition by Martinez.

It's a big "if." But Williams will know how much he is fighting for, and it will be one more factor that makes the veteran dangerous.

To my mind, Alvarez has taken one of the most dangerous fights he could make at 154 pounds—short of jumping up to take on somebody like Miguel Cotto or Floyd Mayweather.

Although I get the feeling that ultimately one or both of those boxing kings will be in Canelo's site.