The 23 year-old, who already has a wealth of experience behind him, goes into the contest on the back of suffering his first defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September and knows nothing but an impressive victory will suffice against Angulo.
Alvarez was frustrated by Mayweather’s elusive skills in what Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya had predicted would be his defining night, but ‘Canelo’ believes the loss can serve as a positive for him going forward as there is still a huge portion of his career ahead of him
“I lost a split decision to an all time great fighter in Floyd Mayweather and that to me is no disgrace. I’m young and improving and still have my loyal fans,” Alvarez exclusively told World Boxing News.
“Fighting Mayweather was like going to school, that is how I must see it as I am still learning and now have a chance to win again against a good opponent.”
Battle-hardened Angulo, 31, comes into the fight himself with a defeat hanging over his head as ‘El Perro’ went down to Erislandy Lara via a tenth round stoppage at the Home Depot Center in June, 2013.
Angulo was on top for large spells of what was an enthralling fight, putting Lara on the canvas on two occasions and looked for all the world like he would pick up his second interim world title at 154lbs as the skilful Cuban struggled to take his fearsome shots.
Ultimately, bad swelling contributed to Angulo being unable to continue late in the contest, which was an unfortunate ending to a highly entertaining bout, and ‘Canelo’ expects another crowd friendly encounter when the pair collide in six weeks’ time.
“I know the fight with Angulo will be a great fight for the fans, but I think my skills and conditioning will win for me,” explained Canelo.
“When you match two fighters with our styles, there are always explosions and believe this fight will be no different. I expect to win whether by decision or knockout and the fans will go home happy after this fight.”
Alvarez was then asked whether a world title was in his thinking for 2014, with the victor possibly in the frame for a fight with the now full WBA ‘regular’ champion in Lara, although predictably the talented boxer was only concentrating on the task at hand.
“I don’t look ahead as Angulo is serious opposition,” he said. “It is a bad idea to look too far ahead. I am focusing on my upcoming fight and maybe you can ask me that question after and get a different answer.”
Follow on Twitter @PhilDJay for tweets of upcoming news on WBN
