Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is favored to win in his upcoming fight against James Kirkland, but Brandon Rios believes the Mexican has no room for complacency.
Rios agrees that Alvarez is the better fighter, but he pointed out that Kirkland is capable of pulling off an upset in the fight scheduled on May 9 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Rios said that Kirkland is a great puncher and it remains to be seen whether or not Alvarez will be able to withstand the power punches of his opponent, which makes him believe the 31-year-old is a dangerous opponent for Canelo.
"It's a dangerous fight for Canelo, Kirkland can crack. If he catches him with that one shot he can hurt Canelo, but we don't know how Canelo's jaw has been taking a punch from a real puncher," Rios said.
Kirkland holds an impressive 32-1 record with 28 knockout victories in his career, but has not fought since scoring a sixth round knockout win against Glen Tapia in their showdown in December 2013.
Late last month, welterweight star Andre Berto also said that Kirkland has a good chance to score an upset if he connects with his punches and if he will be able to shake off rust brought by his long layoff.
Alvarez, who holds a 44-1-1 record with 31 knockout victories, is eyeing big-money fights in the near future and he knows a loss to Kirkland will hurt his chances of landing a fight against big-name fighters.
The 24-year-old Mexican has been pushing for a fight against reigning World Boxing Council middleweight champion Miguel Cotto or a possible match against the winner of the upcoming super fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 in Las Vegas.
Alvarez knows Kirkland is no pushover, which is the reason why he is working hard in training. He does not mind all talks about how dangerous his opponent is, pointing out that he is always looking for the most dangerous fight in order to give boxing fans a great fight.
"I feel good and I've been working very hard," Alvarez told Dog House Boxing. "He's one of the most dangerous fighters in this division. All the people and the media say so. We always look for the most dangerous fights."
Alvarez, whose lone defeat came when he took a majority decision loss to Mayweather in September 2013, is coming off victories against Alfredo Angulo and Erislandy Lara last year.
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