Canelo vs Smith Undercard Has A Few Crackers To Keep An Eye Out For

The Pay-Per-View undercard of Liam Smith vs Canelo Alvarez doesn’t hold a standout fight in terms of name recognition, but it is stacked with potentially exciting contests.

Headlining the undercard will be Gabriel Rosado’s clash with Willie Monroe Jr 20-2(6KO’s).

Monroe put together a brave effort against the formidable Gennady Golovkin (L TKO 6) over a year ago. So it is unlikely that the extremely tough Rosado 23-9(13KO’s) will instil too much fear into the slick southpaw.

Last time out he turned back John Thompson over 10 rounds, while he also holds good wins over Brian Vera (UD 10), Brandon Adams (UD 10) and Vitaliy Kopylenko (UD 8).

Those were all aggressive opponents who were each given boxing lessons from the quick fisted Monroe.

Rosado is as game as they come in this sport, and he was impressive in defeat to Peter Quillin (L TKO 10), and has back-to-back victories over former world champion Joshua Clottey (UD 10) and Antonio Gutierrez (UD 10).

But at just 30-years old, Rosado has had an extremely tough career, and to say that he is prone to cuts would be a ridiculous understatement.

Rosado could make this a hard night for Monroe, but on the contrary he could be completely outboxed from start to finish.

With fire in his belly, Rosado is never easy to turn away, and Monroe has nowhere near the punching power to keep Rosado honest or gain his respect.

But Monroe has dealt with that his entire career and he has not done a bad job thus far. If he was able to keep Golovkin at bay for nearly 6 rounds, then he should have enough to keep Rosado frustrated for long enough periods over this 12 rounder.

(Highlights of Golovkin vs Monroe via HBO YouTube)

Blooded from early on, Rosado may become very frustrated with the constant movement of Monroe. He will hear the final bell however, but lose clearly on all three scorecards.

Joseph Diaz 21-0(13KO’s) is closing in on a world title challenge in 2017. But the 23-year old remains in no rush as he takes on the solid Andrew Cancio 17-3-2(13KO’s).

Cancio has never been stopped and holds wins over Jerry Belmontes (UD 10), Rene Alvarado (KO 8) and Rocky Juarez (UD 10). He also managed to push Ronny Rios the distance in a 10 rounder two years ago.

Diaz also holds a win over Alvarado (UD 10), while he outscored former world title challenger Jayson Velez (UD 10) in his career best win.

Diaz should score a similar victory here, dominating Cancio for a wide points success.

The cousin of Oscar De La Hoya, Diego, takes on his toughest opponent to date in the form of Puerto Rican Luis Orlando Del Valle 22-2(16KO’s).

De La Hoya 15-0(9KO’s) is just 22-years old, but faces a big step up against the experience of Del Valle.

Del Valle has shared the ring with Vic Darchinyan (L UD 10), but that will not help him with the far fresher and quicker De La Hoya. De La Hoya can box his way to a unanimous win on the cards.

Also on the card is talented 147lbs contender Sadam Ali.

In spite of a defeat in recent times, Sadam Ali 22-1(13KO’s) still has a bright future in the Welterweight division. Ali – fresh off a stoppage loss to Jessie Vargas (L TKO 9) – can make short work of Saul Corral 22-7(13KO’s) this weekend.

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