According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, newly crowned WBC Super Welterweight champion Saul Alvarez will make his first defense against Ryan Rhodes of England on June 18th in Mexico in a bout that will be televised by HBO.
“For me it is so huge, but for my Mexican people it’s going to be even bigger,” Alvarez said backstage at the weigh-in for Saturday night’s Erik Morales-Marcos Maidana fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena. “It was my dream to have my first defense in Mexico and now the dream is reality. I am very happy.”
“After seeing the ratings Canelo had, the highest [‘Boxing After Dark’] ratings in like three years, they obviously are very interested to have Canelo back live on the network,” Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaefer said of the new television arrangement. “To have Canelo live on HBO before he does his first pay-per-view is the right approach.”
Featherweight contender Daniel Ponce De Leon of Mexico will open the HBO telecast, Schaefer said. Ponce De Leon (41-3, 34 KOs), a former junior featherweight titleholder, fought his last bout on the Alvarez-Hatton undercard, when he moved up to junior lightweight and lost a close, debatable decision to prospect Adrien Broner.
Ponce De Leon’s opponent has not been signed yet. “We have two names we are talking about, so we are working on it,” Schaefer said.
“They criticize Canelo for fighting smaller guys like Jose Cotto or Matthew Hatton. Now he’s actually fighting a bigger guy, a substantially bigger guy, because Ryan Rhodes has fought many middleweight fights,” Schaefer said. “He’s a big guy, he’s a strong guy and it’s a real, real test. I told Canelo this is a very tough guy and Canelo looked at me, flexed his muscles and said, ‘So am I.’ ”
Said Alvarez: “I respect my opponent. He is a real opponent. He has fought at middleweight. He’s a real, real challenger. I could do an optional defense, but I choose a real opponent. I just want to prove to the people and media that I am capable of dealing with those type of fighters.”
